Ola ropes in Julien Geffard to lead electric business in Europe

Bengaluru Ride-hailing major Ola on Friday announced the appointment of Julien Geffard as the Director of Go-To-Market Strategy for its electric business in Europe, as the company gears up to bring the first of its range of electric scooters to the European market in the coming months.

Geffard, who brings to the new role over 15 years of experience across some of the world's leading automotive companies, will be based out of the company's Amsterdam office.

Before joining Ola, he was the Global Commercial Director and a member of the Board of Management at Peugeot Motorcycles.

Geffard had a successful stint at Bentley Motors Ltd as their Head of Sales and then as Head of Retail Marketing, Europe. He had also worked with Alpine and BMW.

"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, Ola, said in a statement.

In his role at Ola, Geffard will be responsible for building and growing Ola's European operations for its electric business.

"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 on his appointment.

Ola said its electric scooter comes with sophisticated design and a banana shaped battery that is easy to remove and charge anywhere.

The company said it is in advanced stages of setting up a scooter manufacturing facility in India to cater to the global demand from customers around the world.

Once completed, it will have the capacity to produce over two million scooters a year, the company 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.