New vehicle sales last month jumped 13.4 percent year-on-year to 37,241 units as new models from Mercedes-Benz and other brands stimulated sales, online market researcher U-Car said in a report on its Web site yesterday.
The growth bucked a traditional downtrend in Ghost Month and represented a monthly increase of 6.9 percent.
In the first nine months of this year, new vehicle sales expanded at an annual rate of 4.4 percent to 325,805 units, according to U-Car.
Photo: Amy Yang, Taipei Times
“The effect of Ghost Month was not significant this year. New car sales were much better than before,” U-Car said in a statement. “Many auto brands launched new cars and started taking orders last month following delayed launches in the first half of the year.”
New vehicle launches were delayed in the first six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down automakers’ production lines and disrupted their component supply, U-Car said.
The revamped Honda CR-V saw robust demand last month, with sales of 1,753 units, making it the most popular recreational vehicle among local peers, while the new Hyundai Venue crossover was also well-received by local consumers, with sales of 701 units, U-Car’s statistics showed.
Sales of imported vehicles rebounded to 18,669 units, up from 17,178 units in August and accounting for 50.1 percent of overall new vehicle sales.
In comparison, imported vehicles made up a smaller share of 49.3 percent in August.
Among imported vehicle vendors, Mercedes-Benz Taiwan Ltd (台灣賓士) saw sales rise rapidly to 3,573 units from 2,680 a month earlier, retaining its No. 2 position in the domestic market.
The new Mercedes-Benz GLC was the brand’s best-selling model at 1,053 units, while sales of E-Class and C-Class models reached 554 units and 462 units respectively, U-Car reported.
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which distributes Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Taiwan, again ranked first, with vehicle sales more than doubling to 6,865 units from 3,857 in August.
Ford Lio Ho Motor Co (福特六和) dropped to the third place with sales of 2,978 units, data showed.
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