Luxury vehicle distributor Pan German Universal Motors Ltd (汎德永業) expects demand for imported vehicles to remain weak in the second half of this year, as the US-China trade dispute affects consumer sentiment, company president Tu Hwang-hsu (杜黃旭) said at its annual general meeting in Taipei.
Sales of imported vehicles decreased 1.5 percent year-on-year to 78,641 units in the first five months of this year, with an overall market share of 46.6 percent compared with 53.4 percent for vehicles manufactured in Taiwan, Directorate-General of Highways data showed.
“The decline in sales of imported vehicles is obvious, but we hope to buck the trend by launching new and upgraded versions in the second half of the year,” Pan German chief financial officer Jeff Chi (紀千田) told the Taipei Times after the meeting.
Pan German said it plans to introduce new BMW 7-series passenger sedans and 8-series convertibles next month.
The company has launched the new BMW X7 sports utility vehicle and the 60-year-edition Mini, as well as new Porsche Macan and 911 vehicles, it said.
The company has more than 20 outlets and branches in Taiwan. From January to last month, its cumulative revenue climbed 7.69 percent year-on-year to NT$13.13 billion (US$416.5 million) from NT$12.19 billion a year earlier, thanks to increasing sales of the BMW X4 and X5, and the Porsche Cayenne, it said.
Vehicle sales remained the largest source of revenue, making up about 89 percent of sales last year, while after-sales services accounted for 11 percent, Chi said, adding that the company plans to raise the sales contribution of its aftermarket business.
The company is establishing an after-sales services outlet for BMW vehicles near the Asia New Bay area (亞洲新灣區) of Kaohsiung, which is expected to start operations in the fourth quarter of this year.
A new services center for Porsche vehicles is to open in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) in the first quarter of next year, the company said, adding that it would be the largest Porsche services center in Asia.
At the meeting, shareholders approved the company’s plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$7.5, representing a payout ratio of 70.96 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$10.57.
That was a dividend yield of 3.71 percent based on the stock’s closing price of NT$202 in Taipei trading yesterday.
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