Electric scooter maker Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) yesterday said that it has formed a strategic partnership with Hero MotoCorp Ltd to accelerate the Indian scooter maker’s shift to electric,a major step towards expanding overseas for growth.
The companies are planning a joint venture to take Gogoro’s battery-swapping platform to India and are to collaborate on electric vehicle development to bring Hero-branded vehicles to the market using the Powered by Gogoro Network model.
“With this new partnership, we commit to introducing a sustainable mobility paradigm, first in India and then in other markets around the world. This partnership will strengthen and expedite the Indian government’s electrification drive and will have a significant impact on India’s energy and mobility future,” Hero chairman and chief executive officer Pawan Munjal said in a statement.
Photo courtesy of Gogoro Inc
“We are at a critical stage in the transformation of urban mobility and the evolution of smart cities. With more than 225 million gas-powered two-wheel vehicles in India, the need for smart and sustainable electric transportation and refueling is vital,” Gogoro founder and chief executive officer Horace Luke (陸學森) said in the statement.
The strategic partnership came as the Indian government rolled out a new policy to retire all 150cc gas-power scooters by 2025.
Hero is the biggest two-wheeler manufacturer in India, with a 35.78 percent market share last year. It sold more than 5.8 million scooters from April last year to last month, the statement said.
Hero aims to sell 100 million new scooters in the next eight years, it said.
India is the world’s biggest scooter market, with new vehicle sales of 17.5 million to 20 million a year, the statement said.
The Gogoro Network is an open platform for battery swapping and smart mobility services, and delivers an alternative to legacy fuel.
At home, Gogoro designs and makes electric scooters for Yamaha Motor Co, Aeon Motor Co (宏佳騰), Motive Power Industry Co (摩特動力) and Suzuki Motor Corp under the Powered by Gogoro Network model.
With more than 375,000 riders and 2,000 battery-swapping stations, the Gogoro Network manages 265,000 daily battery swaps.
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