Sumitomo Corporation - Signed collaboration agreement for global expansion of Taiwanese Gogoro
April 30, 2024 at 01:17 pm EDT
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Sumitomo Corporation (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director, President and Executive Officer: Shingo Ueno, hereinafter referred to as 'Sumitomo Corporation') is a subsidiary of Gogoro Inc. (Headquarters: Taoyuan City, Taiwan, CEO: Horace Luke).
In order to expand globally, Sumitomo Corporation, Gogoro, and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance & Lease Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Representative Director: Masaki Tachibana, hereinafter referred to as 'SMFL') have entered into a collaboration agreement. Through this, we aim to support Gogoro's business expansion in Taiwan and business entry into India and Southeast Asian countries, as well as create new business between Sumitomo Corporation and Gogoro.
Gogoro is a startup company from Taiwan that operates a sales and subscription business for electric scooters with replaceable batteries (hereinafter referred to as 'smart scooters') and charging stations for replaceable batteries (hereinafter referred to as 'GoStation'). We use the GoStation network to provide clean and easily accessible portable power. By integrating big data from these ecosystems, the company is optimizing energy efficiency, reliability, safety, and longer battery life. We have contributed to reducing CO2 emissions by more than a ton .
In order to further expand Gogoro's business, Sumitomo Corporation will leverage its global network and knowledge gained from existing businesses to support Gogoro's rapid business expansion into global markets such as India and Southeast Asia. In addition, SMFL will promote the development of asset lifecycle management business using Gogoro's batteries and related infrastructure, and will implement the circular economy strategy set out in the medium-term management plan.
Sumitomo Corporation has been involved in a wide range of areas in the automobile industry both domestically and internationally. In Asia, in December 2023, we established a new company, PT. SMAS Mobility Indonesia, in Indonesia, whose main businesses include car rental business and fleet management services. Additionally, in March 2024, we signed a memorandum of understanding with Green and Smart Mobility Joint Stock Company, which operates EV taxi and EV rental businesses in Vietnam, to explore collaboration in the mobility business.
Sumitomo Corporation has set the goal of making its business activities carbon neutral by 2050, and supports the aims of the Asian Zero Emission Community (AZEC), a group launched by the Japanese government and Asian countries to promote decarbonization and energy transition. . By supporting Gogoro's expansion into Asian countries where the population is increasing and the shift to electric EVs is rapidly progressing, we aim to realize a decarbonized society through high-performance batteries and charging stations.
Sumitomo Corporation is a diversified group organized around 7 areas of activity:
- retail distribution of consumer goods (24.4% of net sales): food products, apparel and accessories, pharmaceuticals, building materials, household and decorative items, etc. The group is also developing a real estate business;
- trading of hydrocarbon, mining, chemicals and electronics products (24%): oil, natural gas, copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead, nickel, coal, iron ore, resins, pesticides, petrochemical products, etc.;
- trading of steel products and non ferrous metals (20%): flat and long steel products, tubular products, aluminum products, titanium, etc.;
- distribution of transportation and construction systems and equipments (15.1%): spatial equipments, landing fields, forest machines, motorcycles, mining operating vehicles, etc.;
- telecommunications and multimedia products and services supplies (8.8%): TV wiring, data communication solutions, film distribution services, mobile telephony, Internet access and computing services;
- development and implementation of civil engineering infrastructures (7.6%): power plants, wastewater treatment units, industrial plants, telecommunications centers, etc. The group is also providing logistics services;
- other (0.1%).