Indian ride-hail giant Ola to announce Mahindra strategic alliance
Indian ride-hail app, Ola, and automotive major, Mahindra and Mahindra, have announced a $400m deal that aims to increase Ola’s fleet size by 40,000 vehicles over the next two years, the majority of which will be Mahindra’s Verito model. The strategic tie-up also allows Ola drivers to become eligible for Mahindra vehicle financing on both new and used vehicles, and offers significant savings on insurance premiums. However, Mahindra made it clear that the vehicle-provision aspect of the partnership was not exclusive, perhaps leaving the door open for a similar deal with Uber.

MUMBAI: Mahindra and Mahindra, India's leading SUV maker and India's largest shared transportation platform Ola have formed a strategic alliance to increase sales of vehicles and other services that will involve 40,000 driver partners across India by 2018.Through this strategic alliance, Mahindra-Ola will aim for an overall vehicle sales and financing of $400 million (Rs 2,600 crore). Ola's driver partners can now avail of an integrated 'Mahindra-Ola package which will include Mahindra cars at special price, attractive financing with zero down payment and the attractive interest rates, subsidised insurance premiums amongst other benefits.Ola will bring in the ecosystem of shared mobility and Mahindra Group will help in offering vehicle buying and service experience ecosystem.Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra Group said this is an important strategic alliance for Mahindra Group, one that will change the contours of the industry. This will give Mahindra the first mover advantage in the fast growing sharing economy in India."This is an initiative that meets the current and future needs of Indian consumers, particularly younger ones who prefer shared mobility solution. It also has a positive social impact on the lives and prospects of atleast 40,000 driver owners and their families," said MahindraThe statement issued by the company stated that Mahindra and Ola will also explore other areas of joint collaboration to build the next generation of mobility solutions including those for unique transportation use cases.Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola said as part of this strategic alliance between the two companies, Mahindra Ola have created unique solutions to help tens of thousands of aspiring driver entrepreneurs realise the dreams, "The alliance with Mahindra will help build significant scale by building more mobility options and newer uses in times of come," said Aggarwal.