Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產), which distributes Nissan and Infiniti vehicles in Taiwan, saw car sales rise 22.1 percent last month from a month ago after launching the upgraded models of its Big TiiDA family car, industrial data showed.
As the nation’s second-largest car distributor last month, it sold 4,962 cars, up from 4,063 units a month earlier, according to the statistics compiled by the data communication branch of Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信).
The figure was 35 percent higher than a year ago, the data showed.
Because of rising sales, Yulon Nissan’s market share increased to 12.3 percent last month, up from 11.1 percent the previous month.
On June 3, Yulon Nissan launched a limited edition of the Big TiiDA with upgraded in-car equipment.
The company sold nearly 400 of the 500 units of the car it had in stock last month, vice president Leman Lee (李振成) said.
Overall, the company sold 1,370 TiiDA-series models last month, up 44 percent from 950 units a month ago, Lee said.
Sales of Yulon Nissan’s smaller TiiDA compact car also surged, rising 248.9 percent to 433 units last month, from 174 units the previous month, while sales of its flagship Super Sentra passenger car increased 22.8 percent to 1,318 units, from 1,073 units a month ago.
The period from May to July is a peak season for the local car industry as customers purchase new cars for travelling in the summer, prompting almost all car vendors to offer as many perks and promotions in this period to attract customers, Lee said.
As a result, total car sales in Taiwan reached 40,189 units last month, up 9.4 percent from May and 23.4 percent from a year ago, data showed.
Cumulative car sales from January through last month totaled 210,554 units, an increase of 15.5 percent from the previous year, according to the latest data.
Lee said he expects total car sales this month to be the same as last month, and Yulon Nissan would try to maintain its market share of 12.3 percent this month.
“Normally total car sales would be higher in July than June because July is the last month of the peak season, but this year ghost month starts on July 27, which is earlier than before,” Lee said.
Taiwanese tend to refrain from buying cars during ghost month, which will fall between July 27 and Aug. 24 this year, he added.
The latest data also showed Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which distributes Toyota and Lexus models, continued to be the top car vendor in Taiwan last month by selling 13,321 cars, accounting for 33.1 percent market share.
Hotai’s number was up 6.4 percent from the previous month and 21.2 percent from a year ago, data showed.
“The robust car market indicates a recovery in consumer confidence and the general economy,” Hotai Motor said in a statement, predicting that the momentum could last throughout the year.
The nation’s car market “is very likely to see sizzling annual sales of 400,000 units this year,” the company said.
In related news, Japanese car maker Mazda Motor Corp has set up a branch in Taiwan in a move to increase its presence in the local market.
“We would like the new branch to both enhance the brand image and boost the strong ties with our customers here,” Mazda Motor Taiwan said in a statement.
The company added that it will keep its partnership with Ford Lio Ho Motor Co (福特六和) and allow it to assemble Mazda 3 and Mazda 5 models domestically in the future.
Additional reporting by CNA
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to