Kwang Yang Motor Co (光陽工業) aims to unseat Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) as the nation’s No. 1 electric scooter vendor by 2024 on the back of rising brand awareness among consumers, company chairman Allen Ko (柯勝?) told a media gathering on Wednesday.
The company outsold its closest rival Aeon Motor Co (宏佳騰) in September and last month, becoming the second-biggest electric scooter vendor in Taiwan with a market share of 11.7 percent last month and 17 percent so far this month, thanks to robust sales of its new Ionex Air model, it said.
Kwang Yang said its performance would have been better if it were not for a chip shortage.
Photo courtesy of Kwang Yang Motor Co
The company said it is unclear when the chip crunch would ease.
“A market newcomer usually faces the disadvantage of limited brand awareness. Nobody knows you. Consumers usually go straight to the established players,” Ko said.
“I believe our electric scooter sales will leapfrog when we make a breakthrough in raising our public visibility,” he said.
After achieving its goal of securing second place in the market this year, taking the top position is the next challenge for Kwang Yang, Ko said.
“We believe we have the chance to take the top spot in 2024,” he said.
Gogoro and its partners in the Powered by Gogoro Network (PBGN) together held a market share of 80.2 percent last month. PBGN members include Yamaha Motor Co, Aeon, Motive Power Industry Co (摩特動力) and Suzuki Motor Corp.
Kwang Yang has been selling gasoline-powered scooters for more than 50 years under the KYMCO brand. The company’s fully owned Ionex Taiwan Co (台灣光捷) is responsible for producing and selling Ionex-brand electric scooters. Kwang Yang also operates its own battery swapping system, called Ionex.
The company expects to deploy about 2,000 battery-swapping stations this year and more next year.
About 6,000 people have purchased Ionex scooters since the system’s launch in 2018, Ko said.
Kwang Yang is also exploring opportunities to expand overseas. The company sells electric scooters with chargeable batteries in more than 10 countries in Europe, as it is difficult to deploy battery-swapping stations there, Ko said.
In China, Kwang Yang targets the high-end electric scooter market to avoid direct competition with major Chinese brands, which focus on low-cost electric scooters.
The company is expecting the biggest growth potential in India, Ko said, adding that the company is also in talks with potential partners to make inroads into Southeast Asian markets to build a stronger foothold there.
“We expect next year to be a wonderful year,” Ko said. “The talks are picking up pace as COVID-19 restrictions have relaxed in some countries.”
He declined to disclose details about what kind of partnerships Kwang Yang is negotiating.
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