Taiwan’s Gogoro delays plan to expand into Chinese markets

Taiwanese electric scooter maker Gogoro is delaying its expansion plans in China due to geopolitical and economic uncertainty and putting more focus on India and Indonesia, its Chief Financial Officer said in an interview.

“There’s so much uncertainly, I think I would say, with regards to the China market in general that we’re delaying our expansion plans until we have a bit more certainty and a bit more viability into what follows,” said Gogoro’s CFO Bruce Aitken. The company also hinted at the covid-19 lockdowns and ongoing trade issues with the USA: “there are all the geopolitical issues, there are all the China macroeconomic issues”.

While Gogoro has been steadily expanding their battery swapping network, most recently in India, Chinese battery giant CATL has been heavily ramping up their own battery-swapping network in China recently, which may make Gogoro’s entry difficult. Nio also has a battery-swapping network up, which can even feed power back to the grid when needed.

China will not be the only market for Gogoro’s battery-swapping platform, however, as Aitken explains: “India and Indonesia therefore become very appealing marketplaces.”
reuters.com