Sales figures drop for locally made cars

Applications for license plates for locally made vehicles, an indication of new car sales, fell 24.1 percent to 15,714 for the first 20 days of this month compared to figures from a year earlier, according to statistics from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

Sales figures for the corresponding period this year were 3.4 percent lower than in the same period last month, government data showed.

From Jan.1 to June 20, new car registrations declined by 24.4 percent to 189,977 vehicles from a year earlier, suggesting weak consumer spending due to recent unexpected tightness in the personal credit market affecting new car sales.

For the first 20 days of this month, Hotai Motor Ltd (和泰汽車), which distributes cars for Japan's Toyota Motor Corp, led sales with 5,520 units, up 2.6 percent from last month's level. This year so far, Hotai has sold 52,538 units, down 25.9 percent from a year earlier, with 27.7 percent market share.

Following Hotai, China Motor Corp (中華汽車) which assembles and distributes Mitsubishi Motor Corp vehicles in Taiwan, had sold 31,973 units as of June 20, down 26.2 percent from a year earlier, with 16.8 percent market share.

Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) was in third place having marketed 21,139 new vehicles this year, down 37.5 percent from the same period last year, with 11.1 percent market share.

Yulon manufactures cars for Japan's Nissan Motor Co.