New car sales declined 10.6 percent month-on-month last month to 34,024 units due to a higher comparison base in March, when sales jumped 57.1 percent to 38,042 units from February on launches of new models by local car distributors.
Last month’s figure also translated into a 2.7 percent decrease from 34,953 units in the same period last year, data compiled by local motor vehicle branches showed.
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which distributes Toyota and Lexus models, remained the nation’s largest car supplier by taking a 28.3 percent market share with sales of 9,615 units. But the figure was down 9 percent from a month earlier.
China Motor Corp (中華汽車), which sells Mitsubishi sedans and its own-brand CMC commercial models, reported a monthly sales decrease of 5.6 percent to 4,309 units last month.
China Motor was the second-largest Taiwanese car distributor last month, with a 12.7 percent market share.
Bucking the downward trend, Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產), which sells Nissan and Infiniti vehicles, saw its sales increase 11.9 percent month-on-month to 3,819 units, with an 11.2 percent market share.
Mercedes-Benz Taiwan, the fourth-biggest car supplier, sold 2,256 cars last month, taking a 6.6 percent market share, followed by Honda Taiwan Co (台灣本田), which distributed 1,969 units.
From January through last month, total new car sales reached 141,711, up 0.1 percent from the same period of last year, the data showed.
However, local car dealers gave positive sales outlooks for this month, saying that sales are likely to pick up due to the upcoming launches of new models and large-scale promotions to stimulate demand.
Hotai is scheduled to introduce luxury sports coupe the Lexus LC this month, a company official said yesterday.
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