Motorcycle vendor Aeon Motor Co (宏佳騰) expects its business in the second half of the year to outperform that in the first half as orders for all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) grow and its first electric scooter enters the market this summer.
“Orders for our ATVs are expected to rise every quarter, thanks to higher demand from US clients, including Polaris Industries Inc and Yamaha Motor Corp USA,” a public relations official, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Taipei Times by telephone.
Given robust ATV sales this year, Aeon reported a 37.12 percent increase in revenue for the first five months to NT$1.08 billion (US$34.84 million), compared with NT$786.02 million a year earlier.
Photo: Yang Ya-min, Taipei Times
“We also expect motorcycle shipments to surpass 100,000 units this year, bolstered by sales of AI-1 electric scooters and gasoline-powered Dory 115 scooters,” he said.
The AI-1 electric scooter, which is scheduled to enter the market this summer, is a collaboration with Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) and uses Gogoro’s battery swapping system, the official said.
The AI-1’s smart dashboard provides riders with audio road guidance, as well as alarms for speed limits and calls, the company said.
The official declined to give more details about the AI-1, including its price tag.
The prices of similar electric scooters, such as the Yamaha EC-05 and Gogoro S2 series, are close to NT$100,000, according to the companies’ Web sites.
Aeon entered the Chinese market late last year and is planning to produce heavy motorcycles at its Chinese unit this or next quarter, the company said.
The company held its annual general meeting on Thursday last week in Tainan, where shareholders approved the company’s plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$1 per common share and a stock dividend of 0.2 percent.
The cash dividend represents a payout ratio of 27.86 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$3.59 and implies a dividend yield of 2.25 percent based on the stock’s closing price of NT$44.50 yesterday.
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