The Taipei Auto Show, which started yesterday, is expected to attract 200,000 visitors this year, up from 183,515 visitors to the previous show held in 2010, according to a preparatory committee of the biennial show.
There were 34,000 visitors at the show yesterday, up from 29,800 visitors on the first day of the 2010 show, said Tina Lin (林曉美), a public relations officer of the committee.
While Saab will not join the show this year, the event has still drawn 24 car vendors with 30 brands exhibiting their latest models at the Taipei World Trade Center Hall 1.
Lin said car distributors appeared to be more willing to offer bigger discounts this year because of the current weak market sentiment.
Luxgen Motor Co (納智傑) general manager William Lien (連振偉) said he saw customers visiting the company as a sign that the nation’s economic condition is improving.
The company is expected to sell 8,000 cars this year, down from 13,000 units a year ago.
However, Lien said orders are expected to increase by 10 percent this month from a month ago.
An official at Yulon Nissan, who declined to be named, said he thinks the car market is not going to recover that rapidly.
“Car sales are a lagging indicator, and the economy will not recover until the stock markets rise,” he said.
The Yulon Nissan official said the company yesterday obtained 20 orders, with 12 of them for their Big TIIDA model, the company’s new family car which was launched in Taiwan on Wednesday.
The official said that the influence of the show cannot merely be evaluated by orders taken at the venue.
“The show provides a chance for people to see cars, and some of them will purchase cars after the show,” he said.
The show will run through Monday with an entrance fee of NT$200 per person.
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