The local auto industry last month remained upbeat, as major players reported rising vehicle sales and dealers’ promotion campaigns proved successful.
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產) and China Motor Corp (CMC, 中華汽車) showed double-digit percentage sales gains month-on-month, while CMC, Honda Taiwan Co (台灣本田) and Mercedes-Benz Taiwan Ltd (台灣賓士) recorded double-digit percentage increases year-on-year.
Overall, new car sales rose 13.9 percent from October to 40,436 units, online automobile information Web site U-Car reported on Friday, citing data compiled by local motor vehicle branches.
The figure represented an increase of 5.6 percent from the same period last year, the data showed.
Hotai, which distributes Toyota and Lexus models, said its sales rose 21.5 percent to 11,452 vehicles from a month earlier, helped by promotions such as free flat-screen televisions.
On an annual basis, the figure dropped 5.1 percent, but Hotai still led the market with a 28.3 percent share, the data showed.
Yulon Nissan, which sells Nissan and Infiniti cars, saw sales rise by 12.5 percent monthly and 5.6 percent annually to 4,003 vehicles, while sales at CMC, which distributes Mitsubishi sedans and its own commercial vehicles, increased 13.4 percent month-on-month and 11.5 percent year-on-year to 3,922 vehicles.
Yulon Nissan and CMC kept their second and third-place rankings, with market shares of 9.9 percent and 9.7 percent respectively, the data showed.
Honda Taiwan saw sales increase 6.1 percent from October and 31.2 percent from a year earlier to 3,201 vehicles to secure fourth place with a 7.9 percent market share on the back of steady sales of its HR-V subcompact and CR-V sport utility vehicles.
Mercedes-Benz Taiwan, the nation’s largest luxury car distributor, reported a 2 percent monthly increase in sales to 2,261 cars, 11.1 percent higher than a year earlier.
The European luxury brand ranked fifth-largest with a 5.6 percent market share, the data showed.
Imported car sales last month increased 41.5 percent, continuing a strong showing since June, when their combined market share exceeded 40 percent.
Market watchers say the dominant market share of domestically made cars has dropped below 60 percent on the back of declining interest in cars with insufficient safety features.
In the first 11 months of the year, 402,452 new cars were sold in Taiwan, up 1.2 percent year-on-year and an acceleration from the 0.7 percent increase seen in the first 10 months, U-Car said.
With aggressive promotional campaigns to boost buying interest in the final month of the year, the overall market could close out strong again, U-Car said.
Last year, new car sales increased 4.5 percent from 2015 to an 11-year high of 439,629 units.
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