Kwang Yang Motor Co (光陽工業), the nation’s largest manufacturer of gasoline-powered scooters, yesterday said that it is aiming to grow its vehicle sales by 5 to 10 percent year-on-year worldwide, thanks to growing demand from emerging markets, especially in Latin American.
Sales of the Kaohsiung-based company’s scooters are forecast to reach 715,000 units this year, compared with last year’s 650,000 (including its new electric scooters), said Kwang Yang, which sells its scooters under the KYMCO brand.
Kwang Yang ranked No. 3 in Europe by seizing an 11 percent market share last year. In Spain and Italy, the company gained even more popularity, as one in every five scooters were made by the Taiwanese firm, it said.
The company has also seen stronger growth momentum in emerging markets.
“The rapidest growth was in central and southern American markets such as Colombia, Argentina and Brazil,” Kwang Yang chief executive Ko Chun-ping (柯俊斌) told reporters on the sidelines of a new scooter launch yesterday.
In Brazil, the company has carved out a 50 to 60 percent share of the nation’s 300cc maxi scooter segment, it said.
Kwang Yang also plans to tap India by leveraging its strength in the electric scooter segment, Ko said.
The company in October last year said that it would invest US$65 million in Indian electric scooter company Twenty Two Motors Pvt Ltd in the next three years.
“Overall, we hope to grow worldwide vehicle sales by 5 to 10 percent. That is our target,” Ko said.
In Taiwan, Kwang Yang has set a 10 percent growth target for this year, after registering a 19 percent decrease in vehicle sales at 304,015 units last year, from 374,621 vehicles in 2017, a 35.31 percent market share.
The company is aiming to sell 336,000 scooters this year, a market share of 45 percent, Ko said.
To stimulate replacement demand, Kwang Yang is offering cash prizes totaling NT$55 million (US$1.8 million) via monthly draws in addition to subsidies amounting to NT$7,200 per vehicle for its new gasoline-fueled Famous 125.
The promotion came after the company forecast a 10 percent annual decline in scooter sales for this year due to slowing economic growth and less vigorous replacement demand.
About 855,137 scooters were sold in Taiwan last year, the company’s data showed.
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