Gogoro Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
February 7, 2024

There are 6 speakers on the call.

Operator

Welcome to the Gogoro Inc. 2023 Q4 Earnings Call. This conference call is now being recorded and broadcasted live over the Internet. I'd like to turn the call over to the Gogoro team.

Speaker 1

Welcome to Gogoro's 2023 Q4 earnings conference call, Hosted by our CEO, Horace Luk and CFO, Bruce Aitken. Hopefully, by now, you've seen our earnings release. If you haven't, it is available on the Investor Relations tab of our website, investors. Gogoro.com. We are hosting our earnings conference call via live web If you're joining us through the conference call, your dial in lines are in listen only mode.

Speaker 1

After Horace provides some of the business highlights from Q4 and our outlook for Bruce will go a bit deeper into the Q4 and full year 2023 financial results. And then we will open the line for Q and A and answer as many questions if time allows. As usual, we would like to remind everyone that today's discussions may contain forward looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward looking statements. Please refer to the forward looking statements that appear in our press release and investor presentation provided today. And now, I would like to turn the call over to Horace.

Speaker 2

Thanks for joining our call today. We're pleased to have this opportunity to meet with you and provide a summary of our Q4 2023 results, A recap on our 2023 full year and share our outlook for 2024. We've already had a few key announcements and product launches in January as well as in Q4 of 2023. We launched the Gogoro Pulse, our new flagship vehicle just last week and it is awesome and I'm very proud of the work our team has done. We continue to innovate and redefine what is possible when it comes to electric mobility.

Speaker 2

The GoGirl Pulse demonstrates a big leap in our industry leadership in both vehicle design, smart technologies, user interaction and vehicle performance and we'll extend our lead in the electric 2 wheeler industry. We continue to extend our partnership with Apple and with the latest Pulse vehicle, we'll partner with Qualcomm to deliver the latest chipset to power state of the art dashboard. Last week, we also announced a partnership with Copec Energy in Latin America where we will be launching in Chile and Colombia in Q2. In Q4, we launched our Gogoro crossover vehicle both in Taiwan and in India and commercially launched our battery swapping service in the Philippines. We also announced an agreement with Uber Eats in Taiwan to speed the transition of their delivery fleet riders to electric 2 wheelers.

Speaker 2

I'm excited to confirm that we are also progressing smoothly with the facility fill out of our first battery pack factory in India and have begun moving our state of the art robotics equipment into the factory. We'll provide more detail on each of these throughout this call. 2023 was a year of relative economic and market challenges. Interest rates were increased by central governments. Monetary policy was tight.

Speaker 2

Economies around the world struggled to meet GDP growth projections and overall consumption slowed. We're anticipating that 2024 will see a reduction in interest rates and that many elections around the world will result in more stable and predictability of government policies on critical questions like energy consumption and the transition to clean green energy. In the Taiwan market in Q4, according to the Ministry of Transportation, the total number of registered scooter was 263,917, up 32% from Q4 of 2022. The total number of registered electric scooter in Q4 in Taiwan was 22,092 units, down from 25,505 in Q4 of last year. Of these electric scooters, Approximately 18,721 or 85 percent were Gogoro powered vehicle and 16,680 76% were Gogoro branded vehicles.

Speaker 2

Total registered scooters for the full year of 2023 was 870,608 units, up 19% from 2022. Total electric scooters for the full year 2023 was 79,766, down 9% from 2022. Both electric powered 2 wheelers and powered by go grow network markets were impacted by the continued deep discount and price war between the Taiwanese ICE vehicle manufacturers, as well as the increased purchase of ICE vehicles as a last call effort from December 2023 discontinuation of certain government subsidies for scooter purchases. As you may recall, for the past few years, consumers in Taiwan who retired an older gas vehicle We get a subsidy from the government when buying a new one. The good news is that EV subsidies from Taiwan Central and local government will continue for 2024.

Speaker 2

While the overall consumer adoption of EV is not occurring as quickly as we would like in Taiwan, we are making continued inroads in with the consumer market and with a number of important government and fleet customers and we do see government policies changing. An example of this openness to EV adoption is the Taipei Police Department, which has been actively transforming their fleet of patrol scooters to electric vehicles. By the end of 2023, 100 percent of the electric vehicles in the Taipei Police Department fleet We're go grow vehicles, which are actively using our battery swapping network to ensure constant availability. Additionally, B2B and B2G fleet customers like Taiwan Power, DHL, Domino Pizza and a variety of local governments are also deploying more and more 2 and 3 wheeler EV in Taiwan, which are Gogoro partner branded and use Gogoro battery swapping network. We welcome the opportunity to work with B2G and B2B partners to achieve their sustainability and electrification goals.

Speaker 2

In December, we partnered with Uber Eats Taiwan for a 2 year green delivery program. This program aims to facilitate a smooth and cost effective transformation to electric scooter for Uber Eats delivery partners. Riders in the program receive discounts on new Gogoro smart scooters, access to Gogoro battery swapping and incentives for deliveries made on Gogoro smart scooters. Through this collaboration, Uber Heats has indicated an expectation that EV deliveries on their platform in Taiwan will increase from 20% to 40% of all trips by the end of 2025. Cogoro is pleased to partner with Uber Eats to tailor vehicle purchases and battery swapping for delivery partners in Taiwan, encouraging more riders to deliver on a greener solution.

Speaker 2

The program is expected to accelerate the EV transition leading to improvement in air quality in cities across Taiwan And it will contribute both to the Taiwan 2,050 net zero emissions goals and to Uber Eats global goal of achieving mission free deliveries by 2,040. This first collaboration can also serve as a template for other opportunities around the region. In the Q4, we achieved significant milestone in India and the Philippines also. In India, In order to qualify for the available FAME II subsidies, both vehicle and battery packs must be made in India. In Q4, we made significant progress in both vehicle manufacturing as well as starting to deploy go stations in Delhi NCR area.

Speaker 2

In December 23, 23, we introduced our 1st India made smart scooter, the crossover GX250 manufactured in Maharashtra. This is Gogoro's first India made smart scooter and incorporates a customized feature based on feedback from our pilot riders in India earlier in 2023. Features such as larger wheels, higher clearance and more rugged chassis and better suspension. All of these enhancements made the vehicle more rugged, safer and more comfortable even under very demanding road conditions. There are a number of crossover variants which are expected to be available throughout the year.

Speaker 2

Financing is an important part of purchase decision for many customers in India, whether fleet owners or individual owners of vehicles who ride for fleets. Gogu is the 1st foreign 2 wheeled OEM to be impaneled by the Small Industry Development Bank of India, SIDBI. And we thank SIDBI, SIDBI for their support and partnership to get our vehicle registered for this low cost financing program which is intended to accelerate EV adoption. The partnership with the Maharashtra Government that we announced last year continues to be crucially important to our expansion in India. In addition to our vehicle manufacturing, We are already well underway in building our 1st automated Robo Fab battery pack manufacturing facility in Maharashtra and we expect to be fully operational in the factory by the middle of the year.

Speaker 2

As always, we're grateful for the support of the Maharashtra State Government. India's central and state governments are playing a crucial role in the transition of energy policy to minimize the health impacts of pollution and spur the adoption of electric vehicles. Policies range from outright subsidies on purchase of an EV with FAME2 to a variety of benefits from EV adoption, including tax incentive, local purchase subsidies, access to lower cost financing, toll fees, waivers, parking incentives and benefits in the permitting process. In addition to the incentives, many cities are beginning to enforce a no ICE for logistics policy, making our strategy of serving B2B customers through battery swapping even more relevant and all of these incentives will continue to play an important role in this electric transition. Gogoro's mission is to drive a mass market shift to sustainable energy in cities through our smart battery swapping ecosystem.

Speaker 2

We've seen high demand in India for Gogo's battery swapping technology and we're excited about our commercial launch in collaboration with various partners. Biggest impact will come from the transition to smart sustainable electric transportation for last mile delivery riders, who cover significantly more distance than normal customers. As policies encourage or mandate this migration, GoGirl has ready made solutions including a superior vehicle experience and a super efficient battery swapping ecosystem ready to lead the transition in India's major cities. As Indian businesses Increasingly prioritize sustainable transportation. They seek tailored mobility solutions for logistics, delivery fleets and taxi services that not only offer a greener alternative to gas powered vehicles, but also cater to India's specific market and industry requirements.

Speaker 2

Gogo provides rapid and reliable swapping go battery swapping, ensuring constant availability and safety. Unlike tethered electric charging in which demands dedicated parking and reduce rider flexibility and earnings while also having a poor track record on safety. We look forward to collaborating with various partners aiming to facilitate sustainable delivery operations and to create new sustainable business prospects including utilizing Gogoro Goshare platform for fractional and shared mobility as a service deployments. The Philippines GoGro network battery swapping service will officially launch in Q4. We're pleased to be working with the Iela Corporation, Globe and Globe's 9 17 Ventures to offer both retail and Gogoro network battery swapping service in Manila.

Speaker 2

We opened a Gogoro experience center in Makati City in Central Manila in early November. This innovative hub provides an immersive experience allowing visitors to try out Gogoro smart scooters and learn about battery swapping. Their experience center showcases a range of Gogoro smart scooters And visitors can schedule a test ride to explore the features and experience of battery swapping and the riding experience of Gogo Smart Scooters. There are now 5 GO stations up and running in Manila and we look forward to launching more services and more vehicles during 2024. 2023 was quite a year for Gogoro and I want to take a moment to reflect on some of the highlights of the year.

Speaker 2

Gogu's ecosystem including nearly 590,000 riders in Taiwan and over 2,000,000 registered riders of GoShare covers 45 cities worldwide and support over 55 electric scooter models. We introduced our 1st locally made India vehicle, open our first Gogu experience center outside of Taiwan in the Philippines and deepen our industry cooperation in South Korea and Singapore. We have now deployed over 12,000 Go stations at more than 2,500 locations around Taiwan and an additional 500 locations in other markets. In addition to the crossover launch, we collaborated with Muji to release a popular line of vehicles, which sold over 10,000 units in just the last few months of 2023. We also introduced GoGro's Scooter Key and Apple Wallet app and Apple's Find My feature integration with Apple for 2 wheelers and over 120,000 40% of our target customers have already activated this service.

Speaker 2

We have deployed virtual power plant capability at over 1,000 location In conjunction with Enel X, Hamza deployed approximately 1,000 smart parking meter in Taipei as well as providing backup power service for traffic lights at almost 200 of Taipei's most critical intersections as well as elsewhere in Taiwan. These Smart City and Second Life opportunities were exciting areas of development in 2023 and will continue to grow in 2024, providing additional revenue streams both immediately and in the future as batteries migrate from serving mobility to energy storage in second life usage. We continue to be recognized for our efforts. In 2023, we were awarded the honor of being an MIT Technology Review's 15 Top Climate Companies to Watch Globally. We were also recognized by Frost and Sullivan As 2023 Global Company of the Year for our leading battery swapping for electric 2 wheel and our rideshare business, Gohshare, was recognized as Asia Pacific Entrepreneurial Company of the Year for Mobility Sharing.

Speaker 2

At the beginning of 2024, I want to take this opportunity to thank our customers, suppliers, partners, shareholders and our employees. Without the support In contribution of so many fellow travelers, our journey toward electrification would be impossible. We appreciate your support and we're committed to continuing in this journey together in 2024 and beyond. With that high level overview of our Q4 and 2023 results, I'd like to invite Bruce to provide an update of our 2024 plan as well as our 2023 Q4 and full year financials.

Speaker 3

Thanks for the strategy updates Horace. Allow me to expand on our financial outlook. 2024 is a year where we will focus on not only the Taiwan market, but also on a number of growth opportunities. We estimate the 2024 market for 2 wheeler sales in Taiwan will range from approximately 750,000 units to 850,000 units. We're targeting growth from 2023 unit sales and market share and healthy growth in our GoGro network from accumulating subscriber base.

Speaker 3

To support this market growth, we've launched the GoPro Pulse, our all new flagship vehicle, which demonstrates what's possible in an electric 2 wheeler. In the coming months, we have other product launches planned to continue to penetrate the more cost conscious product segments, while maintaining Gogoro's focus on unique design, usability and performance. We've been working on these vehicles for some time and are excited to share them with our customers. In Taiwan, we're expanding our channel via the continued build up of our Gogoro quick service stores. These allow for legacy scooter sales and repair shops to also sell and service Gogrow and partner branded electric vehicles, creating upskilling and cross training opportunities for existing ICE industry players.

Speaker 3

We have over 170 GQS stores in operation today and intend to keep growing the footprint all over Taiwan. Taiwan is expected to represent approximately 90% of our revenue in 2024. In international markets, we're focusing on India, the Philippines and continued growth in Korea, where there are already 10 partner run retail locations and over 180 GO! Stations in 18 cities. Last week, we announced our newest partnership with Together with Copac, we are establishing the 1st network of battery swapping stations in Latin America.

Speaker 3

Building brand recognition and trust across a diverse global audience takes time. Developing a robust distribution network, navigating complex supply chains and ensuring supply chain localization are essential components of international growth. It is crucial to recognize that each market has its unique challenges and opportunities And successful expansion requires a long term perspective with a willingness to invest in building lasting relationships and adapting to evolving market dynamics. We expect international markets to contribute approximately 10% of our 2024 revenue and we will continue to invest in those markets for future growth. Now I'll turn to Q4 2023 as full as as well as full year 2023 financial results.

Speaker 3

For the Q4, total revenue was $91,500,000 down 4.1% year over year and down 2.8% year over year on a constant currency basis. Had foreign exchange rates remained constant with the average rate of the same quarter last year, Revenue would have been up by an additional $1,300,000 Sales of hardware and other revenue for the quarter were $59,000,000 down 7.9% year over year and down 7.1% year over year on a constant currency basis. Both electric powered 2 wheelers and powered by Gogoro network markets were impacted by the continued deep discounts on ICE offered by Taiwan Scooter Manufacturers as well as the increased purchases of ICE vehicles as a last call effect given the discontinuation of certain government subsidies for scooter purchases. While we lowered prices, Our average selling price reduced by 9.3% in the Q4 of 2023 compared to that in the same quarter of 2022. We refrain from matching the deep discounts provided by ICE OEMs as we believe that it's not in the best interest of our long term growth strategy.

Speaker 3

Compared to the same quarter last year, sales of total electric power 2 wheel vehicles were down 13.4%, while Gogoro branded vehicle sales were down 6.5%. Battery swapping service revenue for the 4th quarter was $32,500,000 up 3.7 percent year over year and up 6.0% year over year on a constant currency basis. Total subscribers at the end of the 4th quarter exceeded 587,000, up 11.6% from 526,000 subscribers at the end of the same quarter last year. The year over year increase in battery swapping service revenue was primarily due to our larger subscriber base compared to the same quarter last year and the high retention rate of our subscribers. We continue to see the strength of our subscription based business model to accumulate more customers to maximize our battery swapping network efficiency.

Speaker 3

For the full year, total revenue was $34,900,000 down 8.6% year over year and down 4.6% year over year on a constant currency basis. Had the foreign exchange rates remained consistent with average rate in each of the comparable quarters of the last year, revenue would have been up by an additional $15,600,000 Sales of hardware and other revenues for the year were $218,000,000 down 16.5% year over year and down 12.8% year over year on constant currency basis. Compared to the last year, sales of total electric power 2 wheel vehicles were down 9.0% Algogoro branded vehicles were down 12.3%. Local ICE vehicle price competition and overall macroeconomic uncertainty hindered the pace of electrification in the Taiwan market in 2023. Battery swapping service revenue for the year $131,800,000 up 8.3% year over year and up 13.3% year over year on a constant currency basis.

Speaker 3

For the Q4, gross margin was 11.0 percent, down from 15.0% in the same quarter last year, While non IFRS gross margin was 14.2%, down from 17.2% in the same quarter last year. The decrease in gross margin was driven by a reduction in vehicle prices in the 4th quarter, an ASP reduction resulting from a higher percentage of lower priced vehicles sold, higher production cost per vehicle due to lower sales volume, decreased revenues associated with retail discounts and some minor impacts related to our discounting charges for customers adversely impacted by voluntary and minor vehicle recall and battery upgrade. This unfavorable change was partially offset by the improved cost efficiencies of Go Growth, battery swapping service improvements in other operational efficiencies. For the full year 2023, gross margin was 14.4%, down from 15.1% last year, Whereas non IFRS gross margin was 15.8 percent, down from 16.8% last year. For the Q4, net loss was $27,500,000 representing an increase of $15,000,000 from a net loss of $12,500,000 in the same quarter last year.

Speaker 3

This increase in net loss was primarily due to an unfavorable change of $16,500,000 in the fair value of financial liabilities with the outstanding earn out shares, earn in shares and warrants compared to last year as a result of the decrease of Gogrow's stock price and the decrease of $4,200,000 in gross profit, which are partially offset by the decrease of $7,000,000 in operating expenses. For the full year 2023, net loss was $76,900,000 representing a decrease of $22,000,000 from a net loss of $98,900,000 last The decrease in net loss was primarily due to an $218,400,000 decrease in operating expenses, which was offset by an unfavorable change of $189,800,000 in the fair value of financial liabilities and a $7,300,000 decrease in gross profit. For the Q4, adjusted EBITDA was $8,200,000 representing a decrease of $1,000,000 from $9,200,000 in the same quarter last year. The decrease was primarily due to a $1,300,000 loss on investment using the equity method compared to the same quarter last year. The decrease was partially offset by a decrease in operating expenses from various cost savings initiatives this quarter.

Speaker 3

For the full year 2023, adjusted EBITDA was $44,800,000 representing an increase of $3,600,000 from $41,200,000 last year. The increase was primarily due to a $9,600,000 decrease in operating expenses as a result of various cost savings initiatives. The increase was partially offset by a $5,800,000 decrease in gross profits due to lower revenue. We generated $59,800,000 of operating cash flow in 2023 compared to 2022 where we used $64,800,000 of cash in operations. With a $173,900,000 cash balance at the end of 2023 and the additional credit facilities that are available to us, we believe we have sufficient sources of funding to meet our near term business growth objectives.

Speaker 3

Based on the current market outlook, our 2024 revenue guidance is in the range of $385,000,000 to $420,000,000 The low end of this range represents 10% growth from our 2023 revenue. This growth is expected to come from unit sales increases in Taiwan and increasing base of subscribers to the Gogoro network as well as the continued sale of vehicles and other hardware in international locations. We estimate that Gogoro will generate approximately 90% of 2024 full year revenue from the Taiwan market and 10% from international markets. With that financial update, I'll hand it back over for Q and A.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Horace and Bruce for the detailed updates. So as attendees are formulating their questions, I will ask 2 questions that we have collected from analysts. Question number 1, there have been recently Some setbacks on EV adoption for 4 wheel market. What are management's thoughts on 2 wheel electrification adoption? And what is your plan to combat the recent intensified competition from ice makers if you don't plan to participate in a pricing war?

Speaker 4

I'll take that. I think it is inevitable that ICE, traditional ICE vehicles will transition to EV. It's a question of time. And I think that it doesn't matter if it's 4 wheel or 2 wheel, that transition will happen. And it will happen even faster with 2 wheelers because the cost economic makes even better sense.

Speaker 4

But educating consumers that have had a long history of using ICE vehicles on the benefits of using electric is important and it's an ongoing journey for us. Achieving relative price parity on both vehicle costs as well as total cost of ownership over time is really important, And we believe that electric adoption will happen. But we don't believe while we don't believe in engaging in short term price competition is beneficial to our long term strategy. We do developing new technology and services that can help consumer get excited about electric is a really great inflection point we can put in. The most recently announced polls, The Gogoro Pulse is a great example of how and what electric can do that ICE cannot.

Speaker 4

With all the new technology and all the new interaction and all the new connectivity that the vehicle and the performance that vehicle can provide, I think it will really excite the market. And if you haven't checked it out yet, please go to our website and check it out. It is generating a lot of buzz, both in the marketplace and with the media here in Taiwan and pre orders are already rolling in for that product sight unseen. We are grateful for our customer that have already been subscribers for Gogrow Network and we encourage anyone that hasn't tried an electric to really to do so. The riding experience and the usability is just day and night.

Speaker 4

I think you'll find that experience a very positive one. Each person can make a contribution to the reduction in carbon emission by choosing an electric vehicle. And in Taiwan, With the market share and the penetration we have done, the difference is clearly visible on the street today.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Horace. So the second question is, can you provide some color on estimated market

Speaker 3

Thanks, Danny. As we mentioned during the presentation, industry estimates for 2024 for the Taiwan market are approximately 750,000 to 850,000 unit sales. While other markets like India, for example, are many, many, many times larger, India's annual sales are approximately 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 units. In Taiwan, we're targeting growth on last year's volume. We're targeting growth on market share and broad penetration across all segments with the introduction of new vehicles and new services.

Speaker 3

In India, we're really just getting started, But we are expecting during 2024 to make solid inroads in the B2B market segments. As far as margin goes, We will continue to maintain tight control on spending. Our goal is to maintain a relatively flat or slightly improved gross profit margin compared to 2023, while we focus on growing revenue in both Taiwan and in international markets.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Bruce. At this time, operator, please open the line for Q and A session.

Operator

Thank you. Please type it into the box and click submit.

Speaker 1

So while we're waiting for, participants to Ask a question. I have an online question. In India, FAME II subsidies favors Wire charging over battery swap. Can Gogoro offer 2 versions of your scooters? 1 that can swap batteries and the other version where customers Own the battery with tethered charging.

Speaker 1

That way Gogoro can qualify for FAME too.

Speaker 4

Okay, great question. The qualification for FAME II in India requires a number of parts to be executed. The first one being the vehicle having to be made in India with a supply chain that is in India. There's a long list of parts and we've worked really diligently over the last year to enable a supply chain that's unique to India within India to build the vehicle. And today, we're ready in Maharashtra in the state of Maharashtra to manufacture the first vehicle, the Gogoro Crossover GX250.

Speaker 4

And that's while the vehicle is ready, the next piece that needs to come into place is, you're absolutely right, a charger is required, a tether charger is required because the market is not unfamiliar with battery swapping. And so in order to qualify for Phase 2, our vehicle, as you have stated, will have a charging capability. However, with the usability of swapping, as it is indicated, if you go to the website of GoGirl, you'll also see that we offer an option of charging also for our vehicle within Taiwan. But I can assure you The usability and the ease and convenience of battery swapping, it overwhelms the legacy charging, The comfortness and also the time it takes to actually charge a battery that everybody chooses to swap. And in Taiwan's case, 100 percent of our vehicles sold is actually with swapping and the user opt not to charge at all, even though the vehicle might be able to do that.

Speaker 4

And the last piece of the equation is really around the battery that needs to be made locally. And today, just like earlier with Bruce and I highlighting to everyone, The battery factory in Pune, Maharashtra has been fitted out and the equipments are moving in and turning on as we speak. We see that coming in sometime in Q2. And with that ready, all three pieces of component will be ready for us to qualify for FAME II. So I hope that answers the question.

Speaker 4

It is essential that we take advantage of all the policies that are in favor of electrification and we're working diligently, our team is working diligently to make sure that we check all the boxes and make it as flexible and as much as easy as easy it is for consumers to adopt electric.

Operator

Our next question comes from the line of Leung Lin from The Benchmark Company. Please go ahead. Your line is open.

Speaker 5

Good morning. Hello.

Speaker 4

We can hear you.

Speaker 5

Hi, yes. Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. This is Long on behalf of Fang Jiang. So I have a follow-up question on Indian market.

Speaker 5

Just want to ask, can management talk about more about your expectations on the ramp up of the Indian markets and specifically the potential impact of the Indian market on the company's performance in 2024?

Speaker 3

Sure, we can do that. So a couple of things that I'll highlight, and Horace can add on as well. The first is, as we mentioned, we expect approximately 10% of our revenue in 2024 to come from international markets. So Clearly, India is one of our focus areas. We're not giving a specific revenue target for India, but we do anticipate starting to see penetration.

Speaker 3

The market that we're targeting in India to begin with is the B2B marketplace. We've talked about this a number of times before penetrating the B2B space, The value proposition is extremely clear. The riders are clear that they want battery swapping, fleet operators are clear they want battery swapping because it means no downtime. And so with these vehicles being on the road literally 12 or 10 or 14 hours a day, there's no way you can keep a vehicle on the road that long without it being a battery swapping vehicle. If you have to stop and charge, even if it's for an hour, that makes a dramatic impact on the number of deliveries or the number of trips that a writer can make and that directly impacts their bottom line, their take home pay.

Speaker 3

So we view the B2B market as a base load. We can, through the B2B sales, establish a broad network of Go stations, whether it's in a city like Delhi or as we expand into other places like Bangalore or like Goa. We're also targeting Kind of tourist oriented free float scooter services with a partner in the city of Goa and likely other cities to follow. There's a number of different things that we're trying out from a B2B penetration standpoint. We do expect to see meaningful unit sales.

Speaker 3

We Again, 10% of revenue to be international. As Horace mentioned, the critical components are that, that vehicle is ready to go. It is that the charger is ready to go, that the battery pack is ready to go, and we'll have all those pieces in place in the very near future and be able to start with the ramp in India.

Speaker 5

Okay. Thank you for your answer. Thanks.

Speaker 1

I have another question coming from online. Sales of electric generators have increased over the years due global complex and extreme weather conditions, why doesn't Gogoro expand your product line into the battery energy storage market where customers can buy and use their own Gogoro batteries to provide backup energy for their homes or businesses. Customers that own these Gogoro batteries can also become potential scooter purchasers in the future.

Speaker 4

That's a great question. We see our batteries as just storage devices for energy. First usability of that, of course, As everybody knows, what we do is mobility. But we have also used those battery packs for other storage functionality such as backing up major intersections that's serving as a generator, as well as Backing up, we actually recently worked and turned on A SORAC or small regenerative energy generator service with the Taiwan Power where we are turning on 1,000 of our location to do both spinning reserve as well as bidirectional, what we call frequency response with the network, again, acting as a generator. We do have approximately 1,300,000 batteries on the network.

Speaker 4

And when those batteries are in the stations, They're part time serving as standby ready for somebody swap, but at the same time serving as a massive generator for the cities that they serve today. As we look forward and what the batteries can do, obviously, there's many other functionality we can do with the battery. But our number one focus as a company today is to really solidify our market position in Taiwan As we have done so grateful greatly today, with majority of the vehicles that are electric on the market in the marketplace being electric powered by our battery swapping system. And as Bruce just said, the near term focus is really to what we have learned and what we have developed in Taiwan and expand into the mobility space into markets that we have already announced, markets such as India, markets such as Chile and Colombia, markets such as Korea and others that we are actively participating within. Batteries are simply energy storage devices.

Speaker 4

They are, like you said, generators. They can instantly take energy and instantly give energy. We will focus on that thesis with mobility as a first function and the storage and smart grid usability as the kind of ancillary services that they can provide. In the future, We don't know what holds up what's in the future for what batteries can do, but certainly What you mentioned as a storage device or a generator can certainly be something that we look into for sure.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Horace. We have another few questions coming from online. I'm combining them all together because it's similar. They want to know the current status for policies in India on EV battery swapping or charging?

Speaker 4

Okay. I can take that. Battery swapping, as I said earlier in the answer Q and A. The battery swapping is still very new to the entire industry. While everybody recognizes and understands electric vehicle as a plug in charging, there still needs a lot of work needs to be done to everybody on what battery swapping is and what battery swapping and how it's different than battery charging.

Speaker 4

So we're making inroads. We're meeting lots of politicians, a lot of policymakers, educating them. And we have formed Along with other partners, an association called the India Battery Swapping Association and the association has partners like Hero, like Sun Mobility, like actually other partners like Honda and others that have actually joined the what we call IPPSA, which is India Battery Swapping Association. And with this association, a lot of seminars and a lot of meetings are happening as we speak to educate about battery swapping and how policies need to be adjusted to serve battery swapping. So that's we look forward to a country that it can be electrified through battery swapping because that's the only way we can set.

Speaker 4

Bruce said, 0 downtime is the only way we can actually see electric being adopted. In markets where very soon ICE vehicle for logistics will be banned, Cities like Delhi will be banning electric will be banning ICE vehicle from doing logistics. It doesn't matter that logistics is carrying goods, your lunch or people. And so that's a great opportunity for us and battery swapping is the only solution to serve that B2B market.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Horace. We have another question from online. Can we get an update on Gogoro solid state battery.

Speaker 4

Sure. We continue to work with our partner On developing the battery solution, Go Growth's key differentiating factor is The technology behind managing the battery swapping network, today on the network, there generations of technology with different chemistries that are on in the battery today, serving from 1.3 kilowatt hour to approximately 1.7 kilowatt hour and those variety of batteries can be put into the network to serve our customer at any time. One of the value proposition that we give to our customer that people see as a great part of not buying a battery, but swapping a battery is that they don't have to worry about the upgrade of technology. And that when a new technology is rolled out, they simply can subscribe and actually get access to it. And with the solid state battery, as we stated earlier with the announcement, it is years away still.

Speaker 4

And we're working diligently to make sure that we're one of the first people to be able to roll that out to our customer. But it will take time. Solid state batteries is still in this early phase. But it offers a lot of benefits such as safety, durability, long range in capacity, all those things are things that we can actually use to benefit our customers. But in the meantime, Our network is ready to plug in any other technology that needs to be plugged in and we're very flexible about that and serving our customers in different technology with different technologies.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Horace. Operator, can you

Operator

There are no further questions from the audio at this time.

Speaker 4

Great. Thank you everyone for joining our call today. 2023 was a challenging year for the overall market standpoint. We focus on delivering solid financial results regardless. In 2024, we're committed to continue development and deployment of the best technology, best vehicle, best battery swapping platform and ecosystem to ongoing innovation and performance leadership in electric 2 wheeler industry.

Speaker 4

We aim to deliver exceptional performance, efficiency and reliability, both in Taiwan and the international markets that we're going into. We're still in the early stage of electrification overall. Our goal remains to continue to support the inevitable transition from ICE powered 2 wheelers to electric 2 wheelers. As always, we appreciate everyone's support on as a community, doesn't matter if it is our employees, our suppliers and most important of all, our investors on this journey. Thanks for calling in today's webcast and talk to you guys real soon.

Speaker 4

Thank you.

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Earnings Conference Call
Gogoro Q4 2023
00:00 / 00:00