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.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Taiwan’s property market is entering a freeze, with mortgage activity across the nation’s six largest cities plummeting in the first quarter, H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) said yesterday, citing mounting pressure on housing demand amid tighter lending rules and regulatory curbs. Mortgage applications in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung totaled 28,078 from January to March, a sharp 36.3 percent decline from 44,082 in the same period last year, the nation’s largest real-estate brokerage by franchise said, citing data from the Joint Credit Information Center (JCIC, 聯徵中心). “The simultaneous decline across all six cities reflects just how drastically the market
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
RSS