Sales of imported vehicles last month surpassed those of domestically assembled vehicles for the first time as importers intensified inventory depletion and began introducing new models to the nation.
Sales of imported vehicles last month reached 12,918 units, or 53.9 percent of total sales, compared with 11,046 units manufactured in Taiwan, data compiled by the Directorate-General of Highways’ motor vehicles offices showed.
Better sales of imported models, such as Hotai Motor Co Ltd’s (和泰汽車) Toyota RAV4 sport utility vehicle (SUV), Mazda Motor Taiwan’s (台灣馬自達) Mazda 3 sedans and Audi Volkswagen Taiwan Co’s (台灣福斯) Tiguan SUV, lent support to the rising market share of foreign vehicles, the data showed.
“The market share of imported vehicles has been on the rise since 2017, after importers introduced more affordable choices to consumers,” a Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產) official said by telephone yesterday.
The official, who asked to remain anonymous, said that Yulon Nissan would later this month introduce imported Leaf electric vehicles and Altima sedans to maintain its market share, while improving the price-performance ratio of locally assembled vehicles.
Increasing RAV4 sales last month drove up Hotai’s vehicle sales by 6.4 percent year-on-year to 6,762 units, with the company remaining the biggest vehicle seller in Taiwan with a market share of 28.2 percent, the data showed.
Yulon Nissan last month secured a market share of 9 percent after vehicle sales climbed 31.8 percent annually to 2,152 units, thanks to robust sales of domestically made Kicks SUVs and Livina compacts.
China Motor Corp (中華汽車), which distributes Mitsubishi Motors Corp vehicles and its own commercial vehicles, was third with a 7.9 percent market share and vehicle sales of 1,892 units, down 42 percent year-on-year.
A China Motor official attributed the decline to renovation of production lines in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District (楊梅) last month, which are to return to normal this month.
Mercedes-Benz Taiwan Ltd (台灣賓士) was fourth by selling 1,843 units, followed by Ford Lio Ho Motor Co’s (福特六和) 1,397 units and Honda Taiwan Co’s (台灣本田) 1,017 units, the data showed.
Overall vehicle sales last month dropped 8 percent annually and 50.5 percent monthly to 23,964 units likely due to the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, with cumulative vehicle sales in the first eight months of this year decreasing 4.1 percent year-on-year to 279,315 units, the data showed.
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