Hotai Leasing Corp (和運租車), the nation's largest car leasing company, expects business to continue picking up this year, bolstered by demand in Taiwan and China, the company said yesterday.
"While new car sales have been lackluster, the auto leasing market have continued to pick up," Hotai Leasing president Tien Ten-ming (田天明) said at a press conference.
The total number of new cars for rent this year should rise 8 percent from last year to 25,000 units, accounting for 7.6 percent of the new car market, he said. New cars for lease last year totaled 23,128 units, accounting for 6.3 percent of the new vehicles sold.
"More corporate customers are getting used to the concept of leasing cars, to save costs. This fuels the car rental market," Tien said.
To cement its leading market share, the company will continue to offer "competitive services," including partnering with high-speed railway and tour operators, he said.
Hotai Leasing, which has a fleet of more than 16,000 cars for lease and a market share of 27 percent, expects to post sales of NT$5.8 billion (US$175 million) this year, up from last year's NT$5.4 billion.
The company is planning to buy 6,800 new cars to be rented this year, Tien said.
The local car rental market is getting more competitive, with Ford Lio Ho Motor Co (福特六和) joining the fray last September.
Ford Lio Ho works in cooperation with the Japanese firm Orix Corp to rent Ford cars to the corporate segment. The company plans to offer more choices, including Mazda, Volvo and Jaguar cars in the future, it said.
Hotai Leasing and its smaller rival Carplus Auto Leasing Co (
Hotai Leasing's Shanghai branch, Hoyun International Lease Co (
"A total of 7.2 million new cars were sold in China last year with rental cars accounting for only a small 0.8 percent, or 60,000 units," Tien said.
Hoyun is tapping into this market by focusing on the corporate long-term leasing sector, especially in Shanghai. Meanwhile, Carplus Auto has established a subsidiary in Suzhou targeting Taiwanese and foreign businesspeople.
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