Taiwan's electric scooter vendor Gogoro sets foot in China

Taiwanese electric scooter vendor Gogoro said on Tuesday it has partnered with two Chinese two-wheel vehicle makers to offer its battery-sharing infrastructure, ramping up efforts to expand its overseas market. Taipei-based Gogoro, known for its battery distribution network for riders, will build battery-swapping platforms in China in a joint venture with Dachangjiang Group and Yadea Group Holdings.

In April, Gogoro announced a similar partnership with India's Hero MotoCorp to build battery-sharing infrastructure in the world's largest motorcycle market. The two Chinese vendors will develop a range of two-wheel vehicles built for Gogoro's battery-swapping platform, the Taiwanese company said.

"We all share an ambitious vision for changing how China's cities operate in smarter and cleaner ways," Horace Luke, founder and chief executive officer of Gogoro, said in a statement. Partly funded by investors including Singapore's Temasek and Japan's Sumitomo Corporation, Gogoro has in recent years launched scooter-sharing services in Europe and battery sharing infrastructure in Japan.

But domestically the company has trailed competitors Kymco and Sanyang Motor, which mainly produce lower-priced gasoline powered scooters, despite government subsidies on electric vehicles.