Ola appoints Julien Geffard to lead Europe EV operations

Ride hailing major Ola on Friday said it has appointed Julien Geffard as the Director of Go-To-Market Strategy for its electric business in Europe as it prepares to launch its range of electric scooters in Europe in the coming months.

In this role, Geffard will be responsible for building and growing Ola's European operations for its electric business and will be based in Amsterdam, a statement said.

He brings over 15 years of deep automotive experience. Before joining Ola, he was the Global Commercial Director and a member of the board of management at Peugeot Motorcycles. He has worked with Bentley Motors Ltd, Alpine and BMW.

"We are happy to announce the appointment of Julien to lead our European operations. As we gear up to bring the first of our range of electric vehicles to markets around the world, Julien's expertise will be key to building our electric business across Europe," Bhavish Aggarwal, Chairman and Group CEO of Ola, said.

He added that as a rapidly growing hub of electric vehicles (EVs), Europe is a key market for Ola to realise its vision of moving the world towards sustainable mobility solutions.

Ola said it is in the advanced stages of setting up the world's largest scooter manufacturing facility in India and once completed, it will have the capacity to produce over two million scooters a year.

"Europe is a key market for us and our tech and digital expertise, coupled with the unique customer experience, will be key for us as we launch our products across Europe," Geffard said.

The two-wheeler EV market in Europe has seen double-digit growth in 2020, with customers looking for differentiated products that are stylish, smart and lightweight, available at competitive prices.

The development of EV charging infrastructure is expected to continue as governments make stronger investments to encourage sustainable mobility solutions aimed at zero vehicle emissions.