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In today’s newsletter, we look at:
- The Gogoro-Gojek split in Indonesia’s EV path
- EU’s tariffs on Chinese EVs moves focus to Southeast Asia
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In the corporate world, companies often enthusiastically announce partnerships with pomp and ceremony. But when these collaborations end, they usually get swept under the rug.
For example, in the charged atmosphere of Indonesia’s electric vehicles market, Gogoro’s co-founder in 2022 announced the company’s “commitment” to accelerating EV adoption in the country and its partnership with Gojek. GoTo Group even invested in Gogoro.
Two years later, Gogoro has not only dropped Indonesia from its plans, but the partnership with Gojek has also fizzled out. Prior to this in June, Gogoro had raised US$100 million for its international expansion efforts.
In this week’s Big Story my colleague Glenn speaks with Patrick Adhiatmadja, managing director at Electrum – an EV joint venture between Gojek and local energy firm TBS – to reveal the reasons for the split in the Gojek-Gogoro partnership.
Behind the Gojek-Gogoro breakup in Indonesia’s EV push
Image credit: Made by Tech in Asia using Midjourney
Electrum’s Adhiatmadja tells Tech in Asia that while Gogoro was supportive in smoothing out operational issues that emerged during the Gojek-Gogoro pilot, it quickly “became apparent” that Gogoro “wasn’t interested in doing a joint venture.”
“If Gogoro really wanted to enter Indonesia through a joint venture, I think they would do leaps and bounds to accomplish that,” he adds.
In the end the expectations between Gojek and Gogoro didn’t align, he reveals. He shares more on why this partnership didn’t work.
EU’s breakup with Chinese EVs
Gojek and Gogoro’s tie-up isn’t the only breakup happening in the EV market. Last Friday, the European Union imposed additional tariffs on the import of Chinese EVs, threatening to spark a trade war.
The tariff increases taxes on Chinese EVs in Europe from 10% up to 45% over the next five years. This has not gone down well with Beijing to say the least.
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