The nation’s major car vendors selling Japanese vehicles have agreed to cut prices or offer deals amid continued government pressure to reflect the yen’s depreciation with price reductions.
The nation’s eight major auto vendors started offering discounts and deals earlier this year, and six of them announced new promotions on Saturday, a Bureau of Foreign Trade official said.
“Most car distributors in Taiwan understand the needs of their customers and are willing to act accordingly,” bureau deputy director-general David Hsu (徐大衛) said on Friday after a meeting with vendors.
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The eight companies are Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產), Mazda Taiwan (台灣馬自達), Versacraft Corp (合同興), Subaru Taiwan (速霸陸台灣), China Motor Corp (中華汽車) and Honda Taiwan Co (台灣本田).
Hotai, which offered discounts of NT$20,000 (US$668) per car on some of its Toyota models in March and April, on Saturday began including a 50-inch LED car monitor free with many of its Toyota models.
That is the equivalent of a NT$29,900 discount for buyers, Hsu said.
Versacraft Corp lowered prices on its Daihatsu models by NT$60,000 on Saturday, while Yulon Nissan is planning to offer free insurance policies with car sales from this month, Hsu added.
China Motor has agreed to provide a free mobile PC device for buyers from Saturday, he added.
Hsu said three vendors have said they are likely to offer further price discounts if the yen’s depreciation continues.
Total car sales in Taiwan this year are estimated to be about 350,000 units, down from a previous estimate of 370,000 because of the weak economy, Hsu said.
Last year, 366,000 cars were sold nationwide.
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