Kwang Yang Motor Co (
"We are close to making a final decision with Kawasaki ... and hopefully we will be able to sign the deal by the end of the year," said Chuang Chia-cheng (
If the deal proceeds as planned, Kwang Yang may first open a flag-ship display store to take orders for the bikes in Taipei by year's end and hopefully start distributing Kawasaki bikes here early next year, Chuang said.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
Kawasaki bikes are currently undergoing government emissions and noise tests. Imported bikes have to first cut through government red tape on licensing and emissions rules before they can be sold. The company, however, said the domestic market for large-displacement motorcycles is not as good as expected, citing weak sales over the past few months amid a slower economy. Taiwan started to allow the registration of large-displacement motorcycles in July.
"We originally expected to sell 300 big bikes per month in Taiwan. But we have only sold about 100 units per month on average," Chuang said.
Kwang Yang debuted two 250cc bikes priced at NT$185,000 and NT$145,000 per unit under its own brand name in July.
"With each model costing more than NT$100,000 and taking up a lot of showroom space, many of our local distributors said they are not interested in selling bigger bikes -- prefering instead to sell less-expensive scooters," Chuang said. Kwang Yang has some 2,700 local distributors.
Nevertheless, Pan German Motors Ltd (
Pan German is introducing nine different BMW large-displacement motorcycles to Taiwan, with prices ranging from NT$420,000 to NT$1.07 million each, said Jerry Kao (
The US dollar was trading at NT$29.7 at 10am today on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, as the New Taiwan dollar gained NT$1.364 from the previous close last week. The NT dollar continued to rise today, after surging 3.07 percent on Friday. After opening at NT$30.91, the NT dollar gained more than NT$1 in just 15 minutes, briefly passing the NT$30 mark. Before the US Department of the Treasury's semi-annual currency report came out, expectations that the NT dollar would keep rising were already building. The NT dollar on Friday closed at NT$31.064, up by NT$0.953 — a 3.07 percent single-day gain. Today,
‘SHORT TERM’: The local currency would likely remain strong in the near term, driven by anticipated US trade pressure, capital inflows and expectations of a US Fed rate cut The US dollar is expected to fall below NT$30 in the near term, as traders anticipate increased pressure from Washington for Taiwan to allow the New Taiwan dollar to appreciate, Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) chief economist Lin Chi-chao (林啟超) said. Following a sharp drop in the greenback against the NT dollar on Friday, Lin told the Central News Agency that the local currency is likely to remain strong in the short term, driven in part by market psychology surrounding anticipated US policy pressure. On Friday, the US dollar fell NT$0.953, or 3.07 percent, closing at NT$31.064 — its lowest level since Jan.
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
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