Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) is working with Uber Eats to push for a faster switch to green mobility among the latter’s food delivery drivers in Taiwan, the electric scooter maker said yesterday.
The two firms are to offer a NT$6,000 subsidy for delivery drivers to purchase new Gogoro vehicles under a two-year partnership, it said in a joint statement.
Delivery drivers would also receive discounts on new battery-swapping programs from Gogoro, the statement said.
Photo courtesy of Gogoro Inc
The company has deployed 2,800 battery-swapping systems in Taiwan.
Up to 16,000 delivery drivers are expected to replace their scooters with new Gogoro models over the next two years, Uber Eats Taiwan general manager Chai Lee (李佳穎) told a news conference in Taipei.
The companies expect the Green Mobility Program to double the number of electric vehicle trips to 40 percent of overall trips by 2025, from 20 percent currently.
“It would bring cleaner air to cities across Taiwan,” Lee said.
As both companies have grown globally, they hope to expand their collaboration to more markets beyond Taiwan.
In Taiwan, about 26 percent of food and parcel delivery riders of electric scooters utilize Gogogro’s battery swapping system through 2,800 stations, according to the electric scooter supplier.
“We expect to see this strategic partnership in many more countries and markets soon,” Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) said.
Asked whether India would be the next destination for the companies’ green-mobility push, Chiang said they are exploring all sorts of potential collaborations.
Looking forward, Gogoro’s strategy next year would be expanding its sales networks, including adding more small neighborhood stores and broadening its product portfolios with different price ranges for target riders, he said.
Gogoro has opened 200 neighborhood stores so far this year, surpassing its target of 150 stores.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The