New car sales last month declined from a year earlier, despite the diminishing effects of Ghost Month from Aug. 11 to Sept. 9.
Overall vehicle sales fell 1.8 percent annually to 30,799 units, Directorate-General of Highways (DGH) data show.
New car sales in the third quarter of this year fell 9.64 percent to 99,890 units and contracted by 1.4 percent fro the year to date to 322,084 units, the data show.
Analysts have said that vehicle sales this year would be lower than last year’s 444,669 units, a 12-year high, and might fall below 440,000 units if sales momentum in the final quarter remains weak.
Major car companies last month saw sales rise 11.7 percent from a month earlier to 76.3 percent, but reported mixed results, auto information Web site U-Car said on Monday last week, citing data compiled by the DGH’s local motor vehicle offices.
China Motor Corp (中華汽車), Mazda Motor Taiwan Co Ltd (台灣馬自達) and Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產) reported higher sales from a year earlier, while Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), Mercedes-Benz Taiwan Ltd (台灣賓士) and Honda Taiwan Co (台灣本田) saw their sales decline, U-Car said.
Hotai ranked No. 1 with a 27.8 percent market share in the first nine months of this year, but still saw total sales decline 5.3 percent annually to 89,604 units, despite launching the new Toyota Auris last month, its answer to the Mazda3, the data showed.
While the new model might serve as a catalyst to maintain Hotai’s sales of locally assembled vehicles this year, its overall sales growth might depend on imported Lexus vehicles, Capital Investment Management Corp (群益投顧) said last month.
Honda Taiwan and Mazda Taiwan also saw sales rise 18.9 percent and 9.3 percent respectively over the period, the data showed.
The worst performer in the first nine months was Yulon Nissan, whose sales fell 19.7 percent to 25,708 units, which included Nissan and Infiniti models, the data showed.
The company took fourth place with an 8 percent market share, U-Car said.
The Nissan brand has been long popular among Taiwanese drivers, but that did not help the company, as car buyers demand better specifications and features as well as a wide range of new models, the Web site said.
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