Automaker Honda Taiwan Co (台灣本田) yesterday said it plans to invest NT$4 billion (US$129.9 million) over five years to add new manufacturing equipment to its plant in Pingtung for the production of new models.
The investment is part of the company’s efforts to boost vehicle sales through expanding its showrooms and enhancing maintenance services.
The plant, which had an initial investment of NT$2.1 billion, started producing Honda vehicles in 2002.
Photo: AP
“We are activating [a new] investment plan in 2019, with the aim to deepen our presence in the Taiwanese market,” Honda Taiwan chairman Takato Ito told an annual media gathering.
Honda Taiwan, which plans to unveil a revamped Honda HR-V model next quarter, said its vehicle sales increased 14 percent year-on-year to 38,822 units last year, a second year of growth.
The company seized a 8.8 percent share of local market last year on the back of strong sales of recreational models such as the CR-V and HR-V.
Vehicle sales this year are forecast to drop 4.7 percent to 37,000 units, given weakening economic growth and conservative private consumption, Ito said.
Overall, the market is likely to see sales fall about 3.5 percent to 420,000 units this year from 435,135 units last year, he said.
“It is a year full of uncertainty,” Ito said.
Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) in November last year lowered its vehicle sales forecast for this year to 425,000 units as consumers are cautious about purchasing new vehicles amid economic uncertainty and US-China trade tensions.
UNPRECEDENTED PACE: Micron Technology has announced plans to expand manufacturing capabilities with the acquisition of a new chip plant in Miaoli Micron Technology Inc unveiled a newly acquired chip plant in Miaoli County yesterday, as the company expands capacity to meet growing demand for advanced DRAM chips, including high-bandwidth memory chips amid the artificial intelligence boom. The plant in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), which Micron acquired from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion, is expected to make a sizeable capacity contribution to the company from fiscal 2028, the company said in a statement. It would be an extended production site of Micron’s large-scale manufacturing hub in Taichung, the company said. As the global semiconductor industry is racing to reach US$1 trillion
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
Memory chip stocks extended their losses yesterday after Alphabet Inc’s Google publicized research that could allow more efficient use of the storage needed for artificial intelligence (AI) development. SK Hynix Inc and Samsung Electronics Co, South Korean leaders in the market, fell more than 6 percent and about 5 percent respectively in Seoul. In the US, Micron Technology Inc, Western Digital Corp and Sandisk Corp slid more than 2 percent in pre-market trading, after they all closed lower on Wednesday. Memory companies have been on a tear in recent months as the rapid development of AI infrastructure triggered a spike in chip
RSS