Hota Industrial Manufacturing Co (和大工業), a leading automotive components maker, yesterday reported sales of NT$461 million (US$14.63 million) for last month, down 1.47 percent from a year ago, and 1 percent from a month earlier.
Despite an annual drop in monthly sales, combined revenue in the first seven months of this year reached a record-high of NT$3.34 billion, expanding 11.3 percent from last year’s NT$2.99 billion, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The company attributed its annual growth to demand from its key client, US-based electric automaker Tesla Motors Inc.
Tesla’s improved production efficiency has benefited Hoda’s sales performance, Daiwa Capital Markets Inc said in a report last week.
The electric automaker plans to carry out steady production in the third quarter, aiming to manufacture 2,200 vehicles per week.
In the forth quarter, Tesla hopes to manufacture 2,400 cars per week, Daiwa analyst Helen Chien (簡君穎) said in the report.
Tesla’s production and demand are on track to support the delivery of approximately 50,000 Model S and Model X vehicles in the second half this year, the report said.
“Hota is likely to get at least 50 percent order allocation for the Model 3 and is likely to remain as the sole components supplier for the Model S and the Model X,” Chien added.
In a bid to meet increasing demand from its main buyer, Hota is devoted to building automated production lines this year.
Two new automated and intelligent production lines in Chiayi County are to go into operation next month. The two lines are now waiting additional testing to see if they meet client standards, Hota said.
The Chiayi plant is expected to keep expanding its automated production lines.
Hota plans to launch two more automated and intelligent production lines next year, the company said.
The company is also seeking to establish new plants in the US. California is being considered as a possible location, it said.
“Hota would immediately adjust to any changes if Tesla finalizes its order numbers with us,” company chairman David Shen (沈國榮) told shareholders in June.
Hota mainly produces gears and shafts for cars, motorcycles and tractors.
Hota revenue last year was NT$5.3 billion, up 24.84 percent from a year earlier, breaking its record. The company’s net profit last year soared 52.66 percent to NT$1.09 billion, or NT$4.62 per share, also a record high, company data showed.
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