Car sales in Taiwan for the first 20 days of this month fell from a month earlier, according to statistics released yesterday, five days after the start of Ghost Month.
During the period, car sales totaled 17,549 units, down 8.8 percent over the same period last month, according to the figures released by transportation authorities.
UNLUCKY
Consumers tend not to buy big items like cars or homes during Ghost Month, which runs from Aug. 17 to Sept. 15 this year based on the lunar calendar, to avoid bad luck, preferring to make purchases before or after the festive month.
Market sources said that the impact of Ghost Month will continue to affect buyers’ interest and as a consequence, car sales for the whole of this month are expected to reach just 25,000 units, down from last month’s approximately 40,800 units.
In the period from Jan. 1 to Monday, car sales in Taiwan totaled 244,300 units, up 3.7 percent from a year earlier.
COMPANY RANKINGS
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), a local agent for Japan-based Toyota Motor Corp, retained the title of largest car vendor in Taiwan during the 20-day period by taking a 39.5 percent share of the local car market.
During the period, Hotai Motor sold 6,939 cars, down 2.6 percent from a month earlier, the statistics showed.
Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產) replaced China Motor Corp (中華汽車) as the second-largest car vendor in Taiwan over the period on the back of its promotion campaign to boost buying interest in smaller passenger cars, according to the statistics.
Yulon Nissan sold 2,067 cars, up 4.8 percent from a month earlier, taking an 11.8 percent share of the market. The boost put Yulon Nissan ahead of China Motor, which sold 1,491 cars, a decline of 48 percent from a month ago, giving the company an 8.5 percent share of the market, the statistics showed.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI