The nation’s new vehicle sales surged 39.3 percent to 27,350 units last month from 19,640 a year earlier, undeterred by an outbreak of COVID-19, online market researcher UCar said in a report yesterday, citing Directorate-General of Highways data.
The market researcher attributed the annual growth to seasonal factors, as car sales were not affected by the Lunar New Year holiday, which began in January this year, but started in February last year.
In the first two months of this year, car sales rose 4.7 percent year-on-year to 668,000 units, the report said.
Imported cars from firms such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW AG accounted for more than 50 percent of the total sales.
“February, somehow, was an uneven period for the car market,” UCar said in the report. “Because of COVID-19, consumers were less willing to visit car dealers’ showrooms.”
That added to seasonal weakness, driving car sales down 30.6 percent month-on-month from 39,417 units in January, the report said, adding that the slack season usually follows the Lunar New Year holiday.
With the rising potential for COVID-19 to become a global pandemic, its negative effects are expected to worsen, UCar said.
The outbreak is likely to disrupt auto component supply chains and stall vehicle assembly lines between March 15 and March 31, given that automakers’ component inventories are shrinking, it said.
Sales are ultimately expected to be adversely affected by the outbreak, the report said.
Last month, Hotai Motor Co Ltd (和泰汽車), which distributes Toyota and Lexus vehicles, saw sales climb 21.3 percent annually to 20,026 units, thanks to robust sales of its luxury Lexus cars and the Toyota RAV4, the report said.
Hotai was the nation’s top car distributor for the month.
China Motor Corp (中華汽車) ranked second with 6,925 vehicles sold, thanks to sales of the revamped Veryca van.
The figure represented a slide of 13.7 percent from a year earlier.
Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產) ranked third with sales falling 5.9 percent annually to 5,377 units.
Ford Lio Ho Motor Co (福特六和), the seventh-biggest car distributor, saw its sales grow the most among the top 10 car vendors last month.
The company sold 3,293 vehicles, up 40 percent from a year earlier, due to steady sales of the Ford Focus sedan.
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