Scooter sales jumped 13 percent last month as more commuters turned to two-wheelers to avoid public transportation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest statistics showed.
Sales expanded to 74,493 units last month, compared with 65,913 units in February, statistics released on Wednesday by Kwang Yang Motor Co (光陽工業) and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications showed.
In the first quarter, aggregate sales slid 0.51 percent year-over-year to 186,627 units, from 187,580 units, data showed.
Kwang Yang, the nation’s biggest scooter manufacturer, continued to lead the market by selling 24,136 vehicles last month, growing 6.12 percent from 20,785 units in the previous month, while electric scooter maker Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) saw the fastest monthly growth at 40.06 percent to 8,619 units, up from 6,154 units in February, statistics showed.
“Some people did change how they commute by purchasing private vehicles because of the pandemic. The effect also reflected on overall scooter sales in March,” Gogoro said in a statement on Wednesday.
Combined electric scooter sales from the “Powered by Gogoro Network” rose 45 percent from a month earlier to 10,038 vehicles last month, Gogoro said.
Gogoro makes electric scooters for its network members, such as Aeon Motor Co (宏佳騰), Yamaha Motor Co, Suzuki Motor Corp and Motive Power Industry Co (摩特動力).
Statistics from Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (台北大眾捷運), which runs the mass rapid transport system in the capital, show a decline in average travelers per day.
An average of 1.8 million people per day rode the Taipei MRT system during the first half of last month, compared with 1.83 million in February, the company’s statistics showed.
The monthly reduction was more marked when stretching the period to all of February, which showed a monthly reduction of 8.96 percent from an average of 2.01 million per day in January, data showed.
“We did feel that consumers are concerned about taking public transit as the virus spreads. They are assessing whether it will be safer to drive themselves,” Aeon electric scooter chief executive officer Tony Lin (林東閔) said on the sidelines of a news conference last week. “We are monitoring whether this mindset will benefit local car and scooter [sectors].”
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