Taiwan electric scooter firm Gogoro has 'healthy' chip supply for now, risks as it grows -CEO

Yadea group

19/04/2022 04:42

By Ben Blanchard
    TAIPEI, April 19 (Reuters) - Taiwanese electric scooter
maker Gogoro Inc  GGR.O  has all the chips it needs for now,
founder and Chief Executive Horace Luke said on Tuesday, but
could face a squeeze by year-end as it pushes big plans to grow
in China, India and Southeast Asia.
    While a global shortage of semiconductors has slammed auto
makers, Luke told Reuters in an interview that Gogoro, which
listed in New York this month, uses far fewer chips than
electric car makers and still has a relatively small market
concentrated in Taiwan. For the next several months it has a
"healthy supply" of chips, he said.    
    "A combination of we don't use as many, a combination of
being flexible on our design, a combination of having a market
that is not yet gigantic at the moment," Luke said, explaining
Gogoro's chips position.
    Founded in 2011, Gogoro listed on the Nasdaq via a merger
with blank-cheque firm Poema Global and has a market value of
around $2.4 billion. It has ambitious plans for China, India and
Southeast Asia, seeing potential to replace vast fleets of
heavily-polluting, gasoline-powered scooters with electric
two-wheelers as Asia's metropolises bid to improve air quality.
    "As those cities like Jakarta, or Delhi, or other big
markets grow, how fast they grow of course will then put stress
on our supply chain management. But those are problems that are
coming in the later part of the year, not the immediate future."
    As well as making its own vehicles, Gogoro has electric
battery and other partnerships with vehicle makers including
India's Hero MotoCorp  HROM.NS  and China's Dachangjiang Group
and Yadea Group Holdings  1585.HK . 
    Gogoro, known for its green-hued battery swap distribution
network for riders, generates around 90% of its revenue from
Taiwan.
    Electric vehicle makers have been hit by price rises for raw
materials like nickel, driven by supply chain disruptions from
the war in Ukraine, and Luke said some "minor" price rises had
been passed onto customers.
    Gogoro's stock has dropped around 19% since listing,
matching pressure on other tech plays globally. But Luke said
Gogoro was confident in expansion plans in countries like China,
India and Indonesia, which have a high consumer preference for
scooters with millions sold each year.
    "That's what our investors, our team, is focused on, and
that's what our partnerships are focused on, to take our
technology which we've created and go into those large markets
that have high potential to convert to electric."

 (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)
 ((ben.blanchard@thomsonreuters.com;))