Gogoro Inc. (NASDAQ:GGR) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

As the adoption rate of electric scooter is not keeping pace with the government’s goals. Clearly, the ongoing government subsidies for ICE vehicle is an obstacle to the EV adoption that needs to be changed. We’re committed to substantial investment in our marketing and channel touchpoints in Taiwan, and on track with our target of rolling out 150 additional Gogoro Quick service stores by the end of the year. Gogoro Quick service stores are smaller, more flexible and these shops service both EV, as well as ICE vehicles, creating opportunities for existing ICE service workers to become certified to also repair Gogoro vehicles and ensure their livelihood in a changing era of mobility. As our install base broadens, we want customers to be able to easily find a great service experience.

In addition, we’re actively diversifying our product line and anticipate several significant vehicle introductions in the upcoming months. These new additions will broaden our product range at the high end of the performance stack, as well as provide a compelling EV experience at the sweet spot of affordability. These products can serve the Taiwan market, but will also have broader global appeal. We continue to scale the Gogoro Network. In Q3, we increased the total number of GoStation locations to 2,570 in Taiwan. Most of these locations that we added are super GoStations, able to serve our growing customer base more efficiently. Through our collaboration with the leading innovative energy service and virtual power plant provider, NLX, we have successfully deployed over 1,000 locations and integrated 2,500 battery swapping stations into the NLX virtual power plant, or what we call VPP across Taiwan.

Additionally, we continue to demonstrate the growth of additional use cases for Gogoro smart batteries, including 655 smart parking meters and 187 smart traffic signals UPS backup across Taipei’s major intersections, which are now live and operational. We have also recently won a government bid to build and demonstrate energy storage, which would be deployed in a variety of applications. This is another great demonstration of the flexibility and use cases for Gogoro smart batteries for second life utilization to generate additional second life revenue beyond mobility. Community is important to us. We’re building a community of like-minded, socially conscious consumer who want a great riding experience, a great refueling experience via our almost instant Swap and Go service, but also want to play their part to address the challenges of urban mobility and sustainability.

We build communities through a variety of events. Once a customer has become a Gogoro rider, they frequently engage broadly, not only with the Gogoro community, but with other causes such as the increased use of alternative energy, engagement on climate challenges and other local issues. After a three-year hiatus, our flagship Taipei Bridge Community event made a strong comeback on October 28th, and for the first time, we hosted a Halloween-themed Costume Night. The event attracted over 2,000 Gogoro and partner vehicle owners, GoShare users and electric vehicle enthusiasts from all over Taiwan. The grand finale was the night ride on the Taipei Bridge, which saw more than 1,500 electric scooters making zero noise, zero fume and marking for a successful and fun conclusion to the ride.

We aim to let more consumers understand and enjoy the positive influence of adopting electric scooters. We owe our success to all the support and passion of our more than 2.6 million Gogoro and GoShare users. We’ll continue our effort to provide innovative products and top-notch services to enhance the quality of life and the environment. We regularly refresh our product roadmap and there were new products and services introduced in Q3. These products will be delivered in volume throughout Q4. In late July, we launched a collaboration with famous Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa and the MUJI brand. The collaboration includes the newly designed Gogoro VIVA ME and the Gogoro VIVA MIX ME, along with a range of merchandise and accessories. These vehicles have been very popular with our customers who appreciate the design simplicity and the use of recycled polypropylene panels made from plastic waste.

These plastic waste was partially supplied by Gogoro and MUJI customers. These are examples of how Gogoro ‘s products are not just two-wheelers, but our products seeking to address larger issues of pollution, waste and allow community members to make a difference while also getting from point-to-point in their daily lives. These are small but meaningful steps in creating a more sustainable community and future. Last month, we unveiled the all new Gogoro CrossOver Smartscooter, marking the debut of our first two-wheel SUV. Engineered to be rugged, perfect for a heavy workload and super adaptable, CrossOver riders can personalize and customize their vehicle with a wide range of accessories and over 100 color combinations. Built on a brand new design all-terrain frame, it combined increased sturdiness with a range of storage and riding capabilities.

We can expect to see CrossOver on the road before end of this month. Last week, we announced a collaboration with Apple to integrate our digital scooter key in Apple Wallet and Apple Find My Network capabilities into our Smartscooter. Our riders can now add a scooter key to Apple Wallet on their iPhone and Apple Watch, enhancing the riding experience by offering a seamless and touchless solution, while also offering additional security and privacy advantages. We’re excited to be introducing the first two-wheelers in the world that support Apple scooter key in Apple Wallet. This is not only available on new Smartscooter, but it’ll also be available to more than 300,000 existing Gogoro customers in Taiwan. We also announced that in the coming months, selected Smartscooter owners will be able to use Apple Find My feature to locate their vehicles.