Despite high saturation, new car registrations last year demonstrated healthy annual growth, surpassing 500,000 units for the first time since 1995, the latest government statistics showed.
Total automobile sales in Taiwan hit 514,626 units last year, up 6.3 percent compared with 484,286 units in 2004, according to the statistics compiled by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.
Hotai Motor Co (
`Record high'
"This is a record high for us, which let us successfully remain the No. 1 vendor in the market for four straight years," Hotai Motor said in a statement that was released yesterday.
In contrast, China Motor Corp (
China Motor, in the No. 2 position, sold 86,661 vehicles, marking a decline from 89,252 units in 2004.
Yulon Nissan came in third at 65,292 units, down from 70,316 a year ago.
Volumes of Ford Lio Ho Motor Co (
"Last year's sales were slightly behind our target of 67,000 units. We weren't very satisfied with the performance ... amid the price wars to boost sales, we wanted to hold onto profits instead," Yulon Nissan's new president Jack Wu (吳新發) said.
As the past two years were a peak for the number of drivers changing vehicles, the nation's market has become saturated, he added.
"Though vendors will launch a slew of new models this year, we expect the market size will reach between 490,000 and 500,000 units," Wu said, adding that the company will move toward the sales target of 70,000 vehicles this year.
Looking ahead
Yulon Nissan is not the only vendor saying that total volume this year will remain flat to last year's. Mazda Taiwan also expects this to happen.
"We don't see any big surprises to further lift up volume this year, except that more and more younger buyers will purchase cars which cater to their tastes," said an official from Mazda Taiwan who requested anonymity.
Mazda Taiwan -- which recorded sales growth of 20.8 percent last year -- expects the strong momentum to continue this year, driven by its hot recreational vehicle the Mazda5, the official added.
"Local consumers are now recognizing our brand and image, and our Mazda3 sedan was the main item fueling our sales last year," he said.
Meanwhile, China Motor forecast that its sales this year will reach at least 80,000 units.
Rivals Hotai Motor and Ford Lio Ho projected that they would maintain last year's levels, selling 150,000 and 55,000 units, respectively.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure