Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產) yesterday said car sales this month would fall by between 7 percent and 8 percent year-on-year as customers anticipate price cuts because of the yen’s depreciation.
“Compared with our original estimate of selling 30,000 units this month, we now forecast sales of between 27,000 and 28,000,” Yulon Nissan vice president Leman Lee (李振成) told a press conference.
However, Lee said the company had no plan to reduce prices, adding that customers would only delay their purchases to later this year.
Lee said the company aims to sell 43,800 cars this year by offering customers better warranties and expects sales to pick up steam after the launches of the “Juke” mini-SUV in August and the “New Sentra” compact sedan by the fourth quarter this year.
Yulon Nissan reported NT$4.93 billion (US$164.93 million) in profit last year, up 28.68 percent from NT$3.83 billion a year ago, thanks to contribution from its Chinese subsidiary, Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Co (東風日產).
Lee said Dongfeng Nissan sales had returned to 90 percent of its previous level after the heat of the dispute over the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) that erupted last fall subsided and the company is expecting to sell 800,000 cars in China this year, up 3.9 percent from 770,000 units last year.
Yulon Nissan’s shares rose 0.18 percent to NT$273.5 yesterday.
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