Vehicle sales in Taiwan are expected to grow at a slower-than-expected pace this year as the euro strengthens and consumers become more conservative in an election year, an official of the German-US automaker DaimlerChrysler AG said yesterday.
Car sales may continue to expand slightly thanks to an increase in imports from Japan, said Wolfram Geisler, president and chief executive officer of DaimlerChrysler Taiwan Ltd.
"But the growth will likely be lower than the industry watchers' previous forecast," Geisler said.
Consumers tend to be more conservative in spending on luxury goods like cars ahead of elections, according to Geisler.
A more crucial factor could be currency fluctuations, which have resulted in a steep price hike on cars imported from Europe, resulting in lackluster sales of European models last year.
"The skyrocketing euro has made 2003 a severe year for most European automakers," Geisler said. "Though the euro may start to abate in the middle of this year, it will continue to be a challenge for us."
In these difficult times, Geisler said, a "price increase is a must."
Hotai Motor Co (
Last year, car sales grew more than 4 percent from the year before.
"Though the growth looks small, we're optimistic about the auto market this year and are pinning hopes on the improving economy and replacement buying," said Steven Yang (
Yang expected his company's unit sales to grow at a similar pace to the nation's car market, to about 104,000 vehicles, thanks to the increase of imports and the introduction of the recreational vehicle brand Wish in the third quarter.
Toyota raised the number of cars it imports to Taiwan to 7,900 this year from 6,400 last year, according to Yang.
However, Yang said the appreciating yen has made "a price hike unavoidable, which could hurt car sales."
The yen has appreciated by about 12 percent against the New Taiwan dollar since last July.
To reflect the currency change, Hotai plans to raise the price of imported vehicles by between 3 percent and 4 percent on March 1 at the latest, Yang said.
Hotai shares rose by 0.61 percent, or NT$0.3, to NT$49.3 yesterday on the TAIEX.
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