By Ben Blanchard

TAIPEI, Reuters – Taiwanese scooter manufacturer Gogoro Inc is stocked with all its chips, said founder and chief executive Horace Luke on Tuesday. However, the company could be in serious trouble by year’s end as it pursues ambitious plans to expand into China, India, and Southeast Asia.

In an interview with Reuters, Luke said that despite the global shortage in semiconductors affecting automakers, Gogoro (which was listed in New York last month) uses far fewer chips to make electric cars and has a smaller market in Taiwan. He said that the company will have a healthy supply of chips for several months.

Luke explained Gogoro’s position in chips by saying, “A combination we don’t need as many, and a combination being flexible with our design, an combination having a small market at the moment.”

Gogoro was founded in 2011 via a merger of blank-cheque company Poema Global. It has a market capitalization of approximately $2.4 billion. The company has plans to expand its operations in China, India, and Southeast Asia. It sees the potential to replace large fleets of polluting, gasoline-powered scooters by electric two-wheelers, as Asia’s metropolitan areas strive to improve air quality.

As cities like Jakarta and Delhi grow, the supply chain management will also be affected by how quickly they do so. These are issues that will be faced in the future, but not immediately.

Gogoro not only makes its own vehicles but also has partnerships with other vehicle manufacturers such as India’s Hero MotoCorp, China’s Dachangjiang Group or Yadea Group Holdings.

Gogoro’s green-hued, battery swap distribution network to riders is well-known. Around 90% of the company’s revenue comes from Taiwan.

Price rises in raw materials such as nickel have affected electric vehicle manufacturers. This was due to supply chain disruptions caused by the conflict in Ukraine. Luke stated that some minor price increases had been passed on to customers.

Gogoro stock dropped 19% in the year since it was listed, matching global pressures on tech companies. Luke stated that Gogoro is confident about expanding in India, China and Indonesia where scooters are a popular product.

“That’s where our investors, that is our team are focused on and that’s why our partnerships focus on, taking our technology that we’ve developed and going into large markets with high potential for conversion to electric.”