Kwang Yang Motor Co (光陽工業) plans to convert all 1,700 of its authorized dealers into hybrid outlets selling electric and gasoline-powered scooters within two years, it said yesterday, in an effort to challenge industry leader Gogoro Inc (睿能創意).
As the upgraded stores would also provide electric battery swapping stations and maintenance centers, Kwang Yang said it expects its battery swapping network to more than double in two years to about 4,300 locations from 2,600 now.
A majority of its Ionex-brand electric scooters are sold at specialized stores operated by Ionex Taiwan Co (台灣光捷), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kwang Yang.
Photo courtesy of Kwang Yang Motor Co
Most of Kwang Yang’s authorized distributors are eager to sell its electric scooters, as the electric vehicle trend gains momentum, company chairman Allen Ko told a media briefing in Taipei yesterday.
The market changes have never been so marked as in the past few years, he said.
“The hybrid stores would help boost the growth momentum of Index vehicles and broaden its service coverage,” Ko said. “It would also be a major step forward for the company as it seeks to be a double champion, in the gasoline-powered and electric scooter sectors, next year.”
Kwang Yang has set an ambitious goal to unseat Gogoro’s No.1 market position next year and reclaim its top position in the gasoline-powered scooter sector in the home market.
“We understand this is an uphill fight for us,” Ko said.
To reach that goal, Kwang Yang has to significantly expand its market share to between at least 25 and 30 percent, he said.
The company currently has about a 15 percent market share.
Kwang Yang last year outperformed local rivals in advancing its market share to about 7.2 percent from 3.1 percent in the previous year, selling 6,270 electric scooters. The market share of its closest competitor, Aeon Motor Co (宏佳騰), fell to 7.3 percent from 9.2 percent, while Gogoro’s market share dropped to 73.9 percent from 78.7 percent a year earlier.
Gogoro said it has deployed more than 2,500 battery stations with more than 12,000 cabinets, supplying 1.1 million batteries.
The electric scooter maker has about 540,000 Gogoro scooter riders under its Gogoro Network.
Given its smaller customer base, Kwang Yang adopted a different approach. It deploys mainly smaller battery stations, with each site offering five batteries rather than the at least 100 available at each of Gogoro’s stations.
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
RSS