Japanese car distributors have declined to cut prices on rising manufacturing costs, despite mounting pressure to do so given the depreciation of the Japanese yen, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
The ministry’s comments came after it wrapped up talks on Monday with car manufacturers assembling and distributing Japanese vehicles in Taiwan, including Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which sells Toyota and Lexus cars, Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產), which distributes Nissan and Infiniti cars, Subaru Taiwan (速霸陸), Daihatsu Taiwan Versacraft Co (合同興), Taiwan Suzuki (金鈴) and a subsidiary of Mitsubishi car distributor China Motor Corp (CMC, 中華汽車).
The yen has depreciated by 8.73 percent against the US dollar since June 3 last year, while the New Taiwan dollar only depreciated by 0.8 percent, the ministry’s statistics show.
Carmakers said manufacturing costs have risen in recent years, including extra costs to meet new environment protection and safety standards, according to the ministry.
However, Hotai will offer a loans with zero interest rate next month, with no compulsory car insurance required, while Daihatsu Taiwan Versacraft will allow customers to buy cars with a down payment of NT$8,000 and a zero interest rate for the payments installments during a 60-month period, the ministry said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
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