Motorcycle vendor Aeon Motor Co (宏佳騰) plans to launch an electric model by the end of this year, and is to base its charging solution on customers’ preference, chairman Chung Chieh-lin (鍾杰霖) said at a launch in Taipei for the company’s “smart” dashboard.
Aeon’s local rival, Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), is continuing to build a connected network and battery-swapping system worldwide, while several other electric vehicle manufacturers, such as Tesla Inc, are promoting fast-charging solutions.
Apart from its electric models, Aeon is also interested in developing vehicles that use other energy sources, Chung said, adding that it plans to produce 10 hydrogen fuel-cell motorcycles this year for testing through a collaboration with Asia Pacific Fuel Cell Technologies (亞太燃料電池).
Aeon aims to sell 10,000 motorcycles in Taiwan this year, compared with nearly 6,000 units last year, Chung said.
All of Aeon’s new motorcycles will be equipped with CROXERA, a “smart” dashboard with traffic alert and navigation services.
The company said it is also considering building a new plant in Vietnam for tariff benefits in Southeast Asian markets, but declined to elaborate.
Total domestic motorcycle sales last year soared 17.4 percent annually to 1.005 million units, the highest level since 1996, according to data compiled by local motor vehicle branches.
Kwang Yang Motor Co (光陽工業), which sells motorcycles under the KYMCO brand, was the nation’s largest motorcycle supplier last year, with a 37.3 market share after selling 374,620 units, up 18.4 percent year-on-year.
Yamaha Motor Taiwan Co (台灣山葉), a subsidiary of Japan’s Yamaha Motor Co, ranked second with a 29.7 percent share by selling 298,750 units, representing an annual increase of 13.5 percent.
Sanyang Industry Co (三陽工業) was third largest, with a 20.1 percent share after sales jumped 22.7 percent to 202,158 units.
Gogoro was the largest electric scooter in the domestic market, with sales skyrocketing 169.4 percent year-on-year to 34,435 units. It had a 3.4 percent share of the nation’s overall motorcycle market.
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