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spk00: Welcome to the Gogoro, Inc. 2023 Q1 earnings call. This session will be recorded. I'd like to introduce Bruce Akin, CFO of Gogoro, who will kick us off.
spk04: Thanks, Operator, and thanks to everyone for taking the time to join us today. I'm Bruce Akin, CFO of Gogoro, and I'm pleased to welcome you to our first quarter 2023 earnings call. Hopefully by now you've seen our earnings release. If you haven't, it is available on the investor relations tab of our website, investor.gogoro.com. We will also be displaying the materials on the webcast screen as we go. We're looking forward to sharing our Q1 results, as well as providing guidance on what we're seeing as the outlook for 2023. But before our CEO, Horace Luke, shares, I'd like to introduce Michael Bowen of ICR, who will share the process for today's call and provide some important disclosures. Michael.
spk03: Thanks, Bruce. I'm sure you're all looking forward to hearing from Horace and Bruce on behalf of Gogoro. But before that, allow me to remind you of a few things. You are all currently on mute. If you have a specific question, please use the chat function in the system to submit questions and we'll answer as many as time allows. After Horace has given a brief overview of Gogoro and some of the business highlights from Q1, Bruce will go a bit deeper into the Q1 financial results. During the call, we will make statements regarding our business that may be considered forward-looking within applicable securities laws, including statements regarding our first quarter 2023 results, management expectations for our future financial and operational performance, the capabilities of our technology, projections of market opportunity and market share, our potential growth, statements relating to the expected impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain issues, and other headwinds facing the company. the company's business plans, including its expansion plans, the company's expectations relating to its growth in overseas markets, statements related to the potential of our strategic collaborations, partnerships, and joint ventures, statements regarding regulatory developments, and our plans, prospects, and expectations. These statements are not promises or guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause them to differ materially from actual results. Information concerning those risks is available in our earnings press release distributed prior to Market Open today and in our SEC filings. We undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by law. Further, during the course of today's call, we will refer to certain adjusted financial measures. These non-IFRS financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for or in isolation from IFRS measures. Additional information about these non-IFRS measures, including reconciliation of non-IFRS to comparable IFRS, is included in our press release and investor presentation provided today. Now, over to Horace.
spk02: Thanks, Bruce and Michael. Thanks for joining our call today. We're pleased to have this opportunity to meet with you and provide an update on the first quarter 2023 results and guidance for the rest of 2023. 2022 was a transformational year for Gogoro as we migrated from being a private company to a public company. We have now been a public company for just a little bit over a year, and 2023 is already shaping up to be a year of both immense opportunities but also some challenges. The macro operating environment is certainly more challenging than the past few years, but we believe our solutions for clean and sustainable urban mobility will enable Gogoro to continue to be successful. Our battery swapping platform, partner ecosystem, and energy grid integration combined with our people and culture provide unique advantages that will allow us to successfully grow in Taiwan and internationally. In Taiwan, 2023 is expected to be the first year since 2020 not substantially impacted by COVID in one way or another. Various restrictions have been lifted during Q1, but comparisons between 2023 and 2022 will be difficult to make given the COVID impact during 2022 and preceding years. We have projected the Taiwan market to be roughly flat in 2023, both from the standpoint of total ICE vehicles sold as well as electric vehicles sold. Our Q1 financial results were as anticipated with a little volume downside. While the overall two-wheel market grew in Taiwan, unit sales of Gogoro and partner-branded vehicles were down slightly. The total number of registered scooter was 177,000, up 9.8% from 161,000 in Q1 of 2022. As mentioned, any comparison to 2022 or earlier years is difficult as there were a variety of COVID lockdowns throughout the year, which makes either year-on-year or quarter-on-quarter comparisons difficult. It is not yet clear whether this slight increase in Q1 is a short-term market increase or whether full-year 2023 sales will likewise outstrip 2022 vehicle sales. You may recall in 2022, the market was at seven-year low of approximately 735,000 units. We believe this Q1 increase in the overall market is the result of post-COVID return in consumer spending. But again, it is unclear whether this volume trend will be maintained throughout 2023. In these challenging economic times, customers tend to revert to price consciousness and conservative purchase patterns. ICE scooter pricing has been extremely aggressive in Q1, and as a result, some consumers have purchased ICE vehicles rather than making the switch to cleaner electric solutions. The total number of registered electric scooters in Q1 in Taiwan was 16,741 units, down slightly from 17,065 units in Q1 of 2022. Of these electric scooters, approximately 13,000 were Gogoro and partner brands and 10,593 units were Gogoro branded. While volumes of Gogoro and partner branded vehicles were down, we attribute this to a number of contributing factors. First, the delay in city-level subsidy communication. The last major city to announce its subsidies program was made only last month. And secondly, the emergence of a number of new fuel-efficient ICE vehicles and substantial marketing from large OEMs behind these vehicles. Additionally, a new heavily marketed low-cost, low-power electric moped in the entry market segment attract customer attention and demand in the market. We currently don't have a product offering in this new e-moped category, but have plans to introduce a number of new products in the second half of 2023. When viewed on a like-for-like 100 to 125cc performance basis, market share for Gogoro and our partners for Q1 2023 was 80.6% of all electric vehicles sold in Taiwan. We encourage competition in the Taiwan two-wheel electric vehicle market. It serves to expand the market and drive innovation. The fact that other companies are adopting battery swapping technology further proves that the market for electric two-wheelers is best served with battery swapping solutions. As a leader in this space, we welcome healthy competition and remain dedicated to providing sustainable, efficient, and convenient modes of urban mobility that benefits both our customers and the environment. We welcome the Taiwan government's extension of a subsidy program for the purchase of electric two-wheelers. Each consumer can get a new Taiwan dollar 7,000 or U.S. dollar $230 subsidy from the central government as well as additional subsidies from local city-level government and for replacing an aging vehicle with an electric scooter. These subsidies, while not central to our business model, do help consumers make a transition to electric mobility. In order for Taiwan and other countries to hit their electrification targets, a constant, predictable commitment to electrification in the forms of specific incentive programs and electrification policies is necessary. Despite any periodic short-term challenges or hurdles we encounter, we believe that the shift toward electric vehicles is inevitable and will happen both in Taiwan and in other markets. Our global network continues to grow. we now have over 540,000 riders and have deployed more than 1.1 million smart batteries at over 1,200 battery swapping cabinets at approximately 2,400 locations across Taiwan. As has been the case throughout Gogoro's history, the total number of subscribers in the first quarter continues to grow quarter on quarter, mirroring the total number of vehicles that Gogoro and our PBGM partner sells. The model remains the same. A customer can buy any vehicle they like, brand, styling, motor size, performance, etc. And they then become subscribers to the Google network and join our accumulating subscriber base in making a monthly payment for this service. This payment amount depends largely on the behavior of a particular customer on a monthly basis. So each country pricing and financial model will be different based on customer writing range, the mix of B2C and B2B riders, as well as different tariff plans that we charge. The current average revenue per rider is just above $20 for a subscriber in Taiwan, with the vast majority of the subscribers using their vehicle for personal commute. In international markets, we expect an increased mix of B2B riders and an increased mileage range among typical B2C users. We continue to see very little fall-off from our network users, Even if a vehicle is sold into the second-hand market, the buyer of that vehicle becomes a subscriber of the Gogoro network. Since 2015, Gogoro has successfully completed over 460 million battery swaps with approximately 410,000 individual battery swaps daily, displaced 287 million liters of gas, and avoided 603 million kilograms of CO2 emissions. We've done this safely and at scale for a number of years, accumulating experience, data, and fine-tuning our network for international deployment. Our network collects real-world data on riding distance and power consumption, and we're able to accurately calculate the total CO2 emissions from global vehicles. In general, if a gasoline-powered two-wheeler vehicle is replaced by an electric vehicle, emissions are reduced by over 80% of current level of CO2 emission from an average gasoline ICE vehicle. Our impact report highlights our ongoing commitment and progress in sustainability, which is available for view on our website. We have deployed this network and built an extensive and smart management system to make every vehicle more sustainable. Our platform is able to monitor every battery, every swap, and perform over-the-air upgrades to battery or vehicle software, optimizing the system for efficiency while extending lifespan of the battery. These batteries also enable the growth of sustainable urban areas. Together with partners, we're building a range of smart city solutions and applications that include battery swapping, smart electric vehicles, smart sharing mobility, AIoT devices, the centralized energy storage, and demand response services. Our batteries are now powering thousands of devices serving non-mobility customers as well. With the announcement of the commercialization of our partnership with Enel X, we can now add a potential substantial future revenue stream, as well as broadly deploy a new use case for swappable, smart, connected Gogoro battery packs. We have always said not to think of Gogoro as only a hardware and vehicle company. In 2022, we initiated a pilot program in Taiwan together with Tai Power and Enel X, the world's largest aggregator of power, and demonstrated the use of our battery in GO Station as virtual power plants, or VPP. After the successful pilot, we recently announced the commercial deployment of more than 2,500 cabinets at over 1,000 battery swapping locations. This is a significant milestone for Gogoro, and it's the world's first, as this marks the beginning of a new era of smart energy infrastructure. The VPP technology enables and supports grid efficiency and stability, returning energy to the grid when demand is high and pause charging during grid imbalance without interrupting the service for the riders. GoGo's battery swapping energy load is aggregated by NLX VPP to support Thai power company energy trading platform for auxiliary services, This platform enables companies like Gogoro to actively participate in energy trading and contribute to the overall energy supply in Taiwan. This collaboration with Enel X marks a significant step for Gogoro's network in our evolution as an energy innovation technology company. With plans to deploy more than 2,500 cabinets across 1,000 GO stations location by mid-2023, Our proactive participation in Taiwan's renewable energy future and our role in the sustainable transformation of energy and mobility is clear. Our demonstrated technology and operational leadership is meaningful to international governments. This energy infrastructure innovation is critically needed in the countries we are entering. Through the deployment of these technologies, Our aim is to make a positive impact on the advancement of a more efficient and sustainable urban environment. This BPP use case can be deployed globally and is an entirely new revenue stream for Gogoro and indicates the strength and breadth of our product offering and a variety of businesses that stems from our ability to customize batteries and station performance and behaviors to a specific business use case. The transition to electric mobility is already underway And increasingly, the battery swapping approach that GoGrow pioneered is being adopted. For many, this transition to electric presents the chance for a cleaner future versus the current state of two-wheeler pollution in large urban centres of the world. We continue to be heavily invested in helping to solve the urban mobility challenges with the cleanest and most efficient battery swapping system available, and then extend the use of that network to additional use cases. While virtually all of our competitive markets have a long history of dependence on gas-powered internal combustion engine vehicles, we are confident the acceleration in affordability, reliability, and range of vehicles that are electric will speed the replacement of older technology with cleaner, electric-based solutions. Whenever there is a short-term headwind of any kind, we remember that the long arc of history clearly points toward both electrification as well as battery swapping. A critical focus area for GoGro in 2023 is international expansion. I'm thrilled with the reception we've been receiving in new markets from governments, customers, and partners, and Bruce will walk you through that progress and our plans.
spk04: Thanks, Horace. We've made good progress and launched three pilots since we last reported earnings. Before I give market specifics, let me go into a bit of detail regarding expanding via B2B as a starting point in international markets, and specifically why we believe B2B is a great starting point for India. The adoption of electric two-wheel vehicles is gaining popularity as a sustainable solution for urban transportation, particularly in congested cities and particularly among B2B riders. The sheer distances driven daily by B2B riders makes the focus on converting them to clean solutions an imperative, and many city governments are making steps towards banning the use of ICE vehicles in B2B services. Electric vehicles have lower greenhouse gas emissions and reduce noise pollution within a city. The challenge that B2B riders have always experienced with electric vehicles is the amount of time that charging takes and the range anxiety given the amount of time and space required for charging an electric vehicle. When GOGRO's battery swapping solutions are deployed, this charging location and time issue as well as range anxiety concerns are effectively addressed as battery swaps occur in a matter of seconds. Simultaneously, concerns about battery volatility under charge are addressed via our ability to charge batteries in our GO stations at the optimal time and temperature to maximize for safety. Provided we launch these services at roughly price parity to gas on a per-kilometer basis, the feedback we receive from B2B riders, delivery platforms, and demand aggregators is overwhelmingly positive. In Taiwan, B2B delivery riders are using Gogoro-powered vehicles for their daily deliveries. Given the distances they ride daily and the constant power they need, B2B riders are the best customers for pilot programs and early adoption of Go-Gro technology in new markets. These pilots give us the opportunity to tailor our vehicles and test road and climate conditions to meet market needs. As proof points increase, Go-Gro can scale its network and grow with just-in-time CapEx deployment. We intend to finance network expansion in overseas markets with both global and local partners to remain relatively asset light. In these new markets, we are working with delivery platforms and aggregators to accelerate the shift to EV in last mile deliveries. As we expand into the B2B market, we expect a variety of sales models in India. We have launched our pilot together with Zip, who is 100% electric vehicle demand aggregator. They work closely with a variety of large platform companies whose services range from food delivery to scooter taxis to grocery delivery, both large and last mile, and other services. Zip buys vehicles directly from Gogoro and leases them to riders, including insurance and maintenance services in the pricing. Energy services are provided by Gogoro, and Zip riders are all subscribers of the Gogoro network, contributing quickly to our accumulating subscriber base in India. Zip is growing quickly, having already established a presence in a number of cities and increased both their fleet size and geographic presence. We expect to shift towards full commercialization of our pilot program with Zip in the second half of 2023 as the pilot program matures. A separate three-way partnership between Gogoro Zomato and Kotak Mahindra Prime Bank is a significant step towards accelerating the adoption of EV scooters in India. With more than 300,000 delivery partner riders, Zomato is a major player in the food ordering and delivery industry in India. The introduction of a vehicle purchase program for delivery partners onboarded with Zomato, along with favorable loan terms, will make it easier and more affordable for them to transition to EVs. As the only food ordering and delivery platform committed to the climate group's EV100 initiative, Zomato's commitment to transition to 100% electric-based deliveries by 2030 is commendable, and we are proud to play a part in the process. With India's electric vehicle market experiencing a remarkable 58% growth, we see a huge potential for us to make a positive impact in the India EV industry. Two-wheelers make up over 70% of all vehicles present on the roads in India, with an additional 10% being three-wheelers. Last year, these two categories constituted a significant 92% of the registered electric vehicles in India. Electric vehicles accounted for 4% of the 16 million two-wheelers sold in 2022, up from 1% the previous year, while about 40% of the three-wheelers sold in 2022 were electric. Government incentives for both manufacturers and consumers have been a major driver of this growth. with subsidies from both national and state governments. The Indian government aims for EVs to make up 80% of two and three wheelers on road by 2030. While this growth rate seems impressive, supporting it with the traditional battery charging model will be challenging. The amount of charging infrastructure that would be required, both from the standpoint of charge locations, as well as the unpredictable tax that charging creates on the power grid, would make battery swapping a much better solution for large-scale urban adoption. To support this growth, we are growing in India. We have substantially increased our employee base in India and now have employees across most business functions, product development, supply chain management, manufacturing, business development, as well as a variety of support staff from central functions. We'll continue to invest to grow our footprint in India and help India and local companies in their electrification journey. We welcome the opportunity to work with many different partners. In another country milestone, which occurred in April, we launched a pilot in the Philippines with market leader Globe, Globe's 917 Ventures, and the IALA Group to provide Gogoro smart scooter and battery swapping services in the Philippines. and we expect to have vehicles available for both B2B and B2C consumers in the second half of 2023. The two-wheeler market in the Philippines is quite large, typically approximately 2 million units per year, or three times the size of the Taiwan market. In Singapore, Gogoro and Jardine's Cycle & Carriage Singapore have partnered with food delivery platform Food Panda for a battery swapping pilot that will support smart electric two-wheel vehicles for last-mile deliveries. Gogoro and Cyclone Carriage were awarded a battery-swapping sandbox pilot for electric two-wheel vehicles by Singapore's Land Transit Authority. Insights from the trial are being used to guide next steps to accelerate the adoption of sustainable mobility. We're excited about these specific pilot programs and the transition they represent to clean mobility in many countries. Although our international markets have not yet contributed significantly to our revenue for this year, We're dedicated to building a strong foundation for growth in these areas. We remain committed to R&D investments to develop and diversify our product portfolio, to meet the right price points in the international markets, and to ensure that we are well positioned to capitalize on these opportunities. The key to expansion in these countries is vehicle cost and energy plan cost to consumer. These markets, including consumers and partners, are extremely cost conscious. I'm pleased that we're making great progress on developing vehicles, that will hit the price points required for these markets. Depending on vehicle power, range, and other factors, vehicles must be priced between about $1,000 and $1,500 per vehicle. We target to launch vehicles that are competitive to other ICE and electric products in the market in the second half of 2023 for each of the markets mentioned. We'll continue to provide updates as we can. and plan for a variety of announcements over the coming months as these vehicles and services launch more broadly. With that background, let me give you some details about our first quarter financial performance. Q1 revenues were consistent with historic seasonality and our own internal projections. We have intentionally taken a conservative view of Taiwan market growth, whether because consumer sentiment might slow due to macroeconomic challenges or because the ICE OEMs compete aggressively for customers. We do not expect much growth in overall or electric vehicle sales in 2023 and have forecasted accordingly. In the second half of the year, we do expect sales of vehicles internationally and should see an associated pickup in revenue in the second half. The GoGrow network growth is consistent with an accumulating subscriber base. For the first quarter, revenue was $79.3 million, down 16% year-over-year and down 8.8% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. Had the foreign exchange rates remained consistent with the average rate of the same quarter last year, revenue would have been up by an additional $6.8 million. Sales of hardware and other revenue for the quarter were $47 million, down 27% year-over-year and down 21.5% year-over-year on a constant currency basis. For the entire powered two-wheel market, sales in Taiwan for the first quarter were up 9.8% year-over-year, while electric scooter sales were down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. The growth in the powered two-wheel market was driven by substantial sales of new, heavily marketed, low-priced, and fuel-efficient internal combustion engine scooter models launched in January 2023. Gogoro vehicle sales volume decreased by 17.3% compared to the same quarter last year. This was driven by a combination of factors. Delays in the announcement of city government subsidies, increases in internal combustion engine sales due to new product launches and aggressive pricing strategies, and in the case of Gogoro's sales drop, the emergence of a new, heavily marketed, low-cost, low-power electric moped in the entry market segment, which appeared to reduce Gogoro's market share. However, when viewed on a like-for-like performance basis, we maintained market share of 80.6%. Battery swapping service revenue for the first quarter was $32.3 million, up 9.8% year over year, and up 19.2% year over year on a constant currency basis. Total subscribers at the end of the first quarter exceeded 538,000, up 15.2% from 467,000 subscribers at the end of the same quarter last year. Battery swapping service revenue increase was primarily due to our large subscriber base, and the high retention rate of our subscribers, we continue to see the strength of our subscription-based business model to accrue new customers to maximize our battery swapping network efficiency. For the first quarter, gross margin was 12.9%, down from 13.7% in the same quarter last year. And non-IFRS gross margin was 13.7%, down from 14.2% in the same quarter last year. The gross margin and non-IFRS gross margin declines were driven by a decrease in the average selling price of our product portfolio, together with higher production costs per vehicle as a result of lower volumes. The decline was partially offset by the improved cost efficiencies of Go-Gro's battery swapping services operations. For the first quarter, net loss was $40.6 million, up $18.9 million from $21.7 million in the same quarter last year. the increase in net loss was primarily due to an unfavorable change in the fair value of financial liabilities of $18.5 million. This increase in net loss was partially offset by the decrease in sales and marketing expenses as a result of a more targeted retail marketing campaign and reduced headcount compared to the same quarter last year. For the first quarter, adjusted EBITDA was $10.6 million, down from $13.5 million in the same quarter last year. The decrease was primarily the result of non-IFRS gross profit decreasing to 10.9 million, down 19% from 13.4 million in the same quarter last year due to reduced sales volumes. The decrease was partially offset by the continued growth of Go-Gro's battery swapping services business in the first quarter. We reduced operating cash outflow by $19.2 million compared to the same quarter last year, through tightening of our business operations and reducing working capital. As we execute on our international expansion strategy, we continue to make investments for growth, including a $16.4 million equity investment, other operational investments in multiple expansion markets in the first quarter, and we'll continue to invest in growing our battery swapping infrastructure. We have paid back $17.7 million in bank loans in the first quarter as part of our effective working capital and financing cost management. With a $167.1 million cash balance at the end of the first quarter and additional credit facilities available, we believe we have sufficient sources of funding to meet our near-term business growth objectives. For the full year 2023, we reiterate our outlook of revenue of $400 million to $450 million, and we continue to estimate that we will generate 90% to 95% of 2023 full-year revenue from the Taiwan market. With that financial update, I'll hand things back over to you, Michael.
spk03: Thanks, Horace and Bruce, for the business update, details on financial results, and forward guidance. As attendees are formulating their questions, I will ask two questions which I think are likely on everyone's minds given what you just shared. Okay, the first question will be on international markets and operational issues. You've made a number of announcements about expansion. Which of the international markets do you anticipate to ramp this year, and which has substantial future growth opportunities for Gogoro? The collaboration with NOX to turn your swappable stations into virtual power plants sounds very interesting and could be a game changer, but can you elaborate on the technology behind this in more detail?
spk02: Great. Thank you, Michael. I think this is important before I go into the specific markets in the question in Southeast Asia and also in India. It is important to really kind of understand our expansion process. I've always had a three-step process in our global expansion. The first step, as you probably have witnessed in our most recent announcement, for example, we have announced three pilots just in Q1 and pilots before that last year. It is a three-step process in which it starts with the pilot where we understand and get data from and user feedback from the market locally. So we understand how to adjust our technology, adjust our product, adjust our offering, and how to actually communicate our value proposition to the customer. And the second step in the process is to expand out and grow out the network via B2B business model, where a lot of these B2B riders are very much based on Huff & Spoke riding patterns. where then we can reliably and with a very, very predictable income build up a network. And only upon a successful build-up of a B2B network do we actually grow and expand into a B2C opportunity in those markets. A great example of that is actually in Korea, a market that maybe we don't talk about very much. Today, after a very successful pilot, about a year, year and a half back, we have actually exited out of our second phase of our pilot. And now there's over 70 stations in Korea, in cities, across eight cities, in cities like Seoul, Sejong, and Jeju. Those cities are very heavily, densely populated. Today, we have about 1,000 BFOs in Korea doing B2B delivery, including calling the local DHL fleet with our battery solving. And then we expect to have about 200 go stations by the end of this year to launch the B2C business with our partner. That's a great example as to how we took a one, two, three-step process and reliably and predictably launched the network. Today, in the Philippines, in Singapore, as well as in India, as well as in Jakarta, Indonesia, we have active pilot programs where we're constantly gathering data, adjusting our design of our product to meet the local needs of those riders. and i hope that you know very quickly you'll see you know in the second half as we launch uh you know vehicles in both the philippines and also in india two of the largest uh growing market in electric vehicles that they will actually prove out to be a very uh successful successful launch when it comes to um when it comes to the nlx technology that you asked about You know, the NLX technology, there's really, we've always started our company with a thesis that, you know, we're more than just a mobility service for our battery swapping network. As Bruce has defined it a little bit ago, it's really a virtual power plant, a distributed power plant all throughout the city. The first phase is also, again, a three-phase process for us to realize that vision. The first phase was something we announced about two years ago, where we actually started doing demand response. where when the grid actually requires people to stop charging or stop using electricity, we can actually remotely command via the server and smart meter stations that actually have extra capacity and enough for riders to come to actually stop using power from the grid. So that was phase one. Phase two is really around demand response. About 30 times a day in a Taiwan grid, usually the grid balance is 60 hertz, and sometimes it goes to 59.88 hertz, very specific, 59.88 hertz. Our stations will then actually push power back for about an hour. We have about 150 megawatt of energy on standby to do that with the power company. And then our third phase and eventually what we're going to do is actually do energy storage with batteries that are no longer capable of powering users to ride, you know, maybe with a family up a hill. But it's plenty enough to actually serve as a power reserve, a large power reservoir for cities. And so, you know, we are, we're into the phase two with Inelx and then we'll look one day launch phase three also as well as our capacity built larger. Now, with technology, we're definitely on the leading edge of this technology. It is a world's first. And it is a great conversation as we engage with different governments across the world, such as India, Philippines, Indonesia, and even Singapore, as we discuss with them how we actually play a bigger role, not just to serve as electrification of mobility, but also converting electricity to smart electricity as city grows in the future. I hope that answers your question, but our company is extremely focused on innovation and being a first mover in every category that we go into and look to these technologies to re-materialize as we grow into much larger cities that, as Bruce mentioned, in India, for example, is 20 times that of Taiwan in volume. And so we can only imagine the scale of the network and how much energy we can actually provide to electric grid as they transition from traditional electricity grid to now more efficient, smarter, more dynamic electric grid in the future.
spk03: Okay, great. Thanks so much for that, Horace. So the second question we will go to is more on the financial side. Can you help reconcile the downtrend in EV unit sales with a bit of growth in the ICE market in Taiwan? Do you see this trend continuing in the latter part of 2023? Sounds like from the call that the downside was expected and cyclical in nature, but then do you foresee second quarter and the rest of the year playing out relative to Q1 and how that might impact your full year guidance of 400 million to 450 million? So if you can help us understand
spk04: uh your comfort with that guidance i do appreciate it thanks thanks michael q1 revenue was basically as we expected q1 is traditionally our smallest by volume seasonal quarter both from a revenue standpoint as well as from a unit sales standpoint typically contributing about 18 to 20 percent of full year revenue so we're on track from that standpoint You know, consumer sentiment in the first quarter, due to all of the pressures in the macroeconomic environment, inflation, and so on, also compounded by geopolitical pressure, we think that's what slowed purchases just a little bit. And in those challenging economic times, people tend to make conservative, predictable choices in terms of how they spend their money. We do hope to see more people converting to electric in the second half, in the second quarter, in the second half of the year going forward. We do expect in the second half to gain growth from international vehicle sales as we, as Forrest said, begin to see markets shift from that first stage of pilot into a more B2B deployment model. And so we're comfortable with where we sit right now from our guidance of 400 to 450 million. And we do expect things to continue to play out as anticipated in the back half of the year as well.
spk03: All right. Thanks, Bruce. With that, operator, could you please open up the line for the Q&A session?
spk00: Thank you. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1-1. If your question hasn't answered and you'd like to remove yourself from the queue, please press star 1-1 again. One moment for questions, please. Again, if you'd like to ask a question, please press star 11. Thank you. Our first question comes from Ali Chen with UBS. Your line is open.
spk05: Ali, your line is open. You may be muted. Hi.
spk01: Hi, can you hear me?
spk05: We can hear you now.
spk01: Hello. Okay. Thank you for taking my question. And thank you for sharing the progress of our alliances in each country. So I have a question for India. You just share about the alliance with it. So how about the other alliances? Can we have an update on the progress? Thank you.
spk02: Thank you, Ali. This is Horace. So, yes, you know, as I said, as I mentioned, the first step is really to have a pilot that allows us to take lesson learned from these riders, learning how they use it, the low condition, the weather condition, the environmental issues such as dust, water, flood, et cetera, et cetera, will really educate us and our partners on what is needed to build a great product. The second phase for us is really to launch a B2B program. Now, our partners, most of our partners that we're working with today are very B2C focused. And with that said, we're going to go with the B2B first, where we can actually build a predictable network, a robust network with healthy riders on it and with healthy batteries, and then open it up in the future for B2C. So long story short is that our partners are still developing their vehicles. There are many partners that are in talk with us about using our technology to actually develop their vehicle as well. But we're going to stay focused on B2B because India is a large place, 2,600 kilometer wide. uh 1900 kilometers deep and so you know we're going to actually go focus on uh major cities where we have a uh large demand from uh from aggregators like zip and also for from uh from you know businesses who are focused on delivery such as zumato flipkart etc to really help us build up the network first, and then we'll pivot to B2C like we're doing with Korea today.
spk01: Thank you, Haris. My second question is regarding the Taiwan market. Like you just mentioned, the competition has become fiercer and with ICEs becoming more aggressive in pricing and also their launch in entry-level products. So how would you plan to regain market share in Taiwan market? I heard you that there will be a new product in second half. Wondering if there is any other plan to regain the market share in Taiwan. And also when we launch the new new products at entry level. Will that have any impact on our margin? Thank you.
spk02: Great. I'll take the first step, and maybe Bruce can take a second step if I didn't answer all of it. You know, at Go Girl, we very much focus on user experience. To us, it is not necessarily a price-driven decision for the customer. Usually what it is is a great, better user experience, a healthier user experience for the customer. And so with that said, what we are doing in the second half is we're broadening our portfolio with a number of different partnerships as well as different products that we're doing. as well as making the with products that are better fit with the different market segments. Now, with Q1's results, I think there was, as Bruce said, it is conservative time. There's a lot of noise about everything from bank failure to geopolitical tension that made the consumer make decision maybe a little bit more reserved. But however, as we look at Taiwan, the moratorium for gas vehicle purchase is imminent. It will come. And there's a very, very clear target with the government that has put out to the public about how many percent they want to convert. And with that, they will put the right policies, the right incentives in place to push the customers. toward making the right decision. So I think it's both a headwind of the moratorium as well as tailwind that we're putting in with better products and better innovation and better user experience that hopefully will today, like as Bruce said, we have a very healthy market share in electric, a little more than 80% when you look at the 125cc, 100cc class vehicle. We believe that will continue because our innovation is clearly in that space. So we're very, very optimistic as to what Taiwan is today. However, for the year, we still want to be a little bit more conservative when it comes to our projection because you don't know what will happen. But we're very much focused on growing and stabilizing Taiwan market shares. as well as diversifying our revenue internationally. It is critical for us to diversify into the international market with the proven technology that we've got. Lighting up these cities is actually quite quick if you think about what we are. We are literally a distributed power plant that goes all around the city with stations that have energy storage within it that can distribute. When you think about PowerPoint, it takes 10, 15 years to deploy, to build one. We have been able to successfully launch these pilots very, very quickly in Q1. And I think we will only see that progress accelerate throughout the year.
spk04: I'll just add a couple of comments about margin, Ali. In the first quarter, as you saw, margins down just a little bit, largely driven by low volumes in our manufacturing facilities, as well as some ASP pressure as we intentionally look to broaden our offerings in the mainstream kind of market segments. In terms of going forward, there's a number of different ways we're working to ensure that margins stay relatively flat. We're increasing the use of consistent components across our entire vehicle lineup, and that helps us to be more flexible in our manufacturing. We are increasing the operating efficiency on our Gogoro network as we become more experienced at running that network and experience efficiency there. And then thirdly, we're just really cost-conscious at the moment. We're engaged in belt tightening. We're engaged in tight control of marketing dollars to ensure that they're used effectively. We're looking at all kinds of different spending at the macro level. And then maybe the last thing we're doing also is really diversifying our supply chain. As we localize manufacturing in different countries, we can use some of those lower cost products and bring them back to Taiwan for lower overall product cost, and we're finding benefits in places like India and in other countries from doing that. So we'll keep margins flat is the goal for the year.
spk01: Okay. Thank you, Horace and Bruce. That's my questions. Thank you.
spk02: Thanks, Ellen.
spk00: Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star 1-1. I'm not showing any further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call back over to Michael.
spk03: Okay. Thanks, operator. This includes our question and answer session, but I'd like to turn the call back over to Horace for any closing remarks. Horace?
spk02: Great. Thanks, Michael. Our thesis as a company has always been an electric transition will occur, that it will occur fastest on two wheels, and that battery swapping is the solution that best meets the needs of urban customers. whether B2B or B2C. That piece is not only intact, it is now becoming widely held among ODMs, governments, and customers. I continue to be proud of and inspired by the work of all the GoGrowth team members and partners are putting together in every day to contribute to a cleaner world. Additionally, my thanks to all of our loyal GoGrowth network customers for placing your trust in us and our solution. We'll work tirelessly to ensure that you have a great customer experience. With the market shifting toward electric, the sentiment of two-wheel electric vehicles is expected to experience a rapid growth in the coming years. This transition is a crucial move toward sustainable urban transportation. We'll continue to execute in Taiwan and international markets, along with our partners, and lead the transition to renewable, clean mobility in urban cities. Thank you everyone for attending today's webcast.
spk00: The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's call. You may now disconnect.
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