Ford expects boom in nation's car sales

Despite the concern over higher gasoline prices in recent days, Ford Lio Ho Motor Co (福特六和), Taiwan's fourth biggest automaker and distributor of Ford cars, is optimistic that total automobile sales in Taiwan will exceed 500,000 units this year, a company official said.

"Consumers tend to change their vehicles on a seven-year cycle, which is expected to boost purchases this year," Wesley Liu (劉淳瑋), the company's vice president of marketing and sales, said on the sidelines of the launch of the new racing-styled Ford RS Mondeo 2.0 yesterday.

Last year's vehicle sales in Taiwan stood at about 484,000 units.

Liu said that buyers nowadays have a wider choice, as automakers are quick to introduce new and enhanced models under various promotional packages in a bid to survive in the competitive automotive market.

An increase in the number of people visiting its showrooms late last month is an indication of consumers' growing interest in new cars, he said.

Traditionally, Taiwanese tend not to make luxury purchases during Ghost Month, the seventh month of the lunar year, which falls between Aug. 5 and Sept. 3 this year. Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產) reported a drop of over 40 percent in sales in the first half of last month, compared with July, Yulon Nissan spokesman Wu Hsin-fa (吳新發) said on Aug. 22.