Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) yesterday cut its forecast of vehicle sales in Taiwan to 427,000 units this year, attributable to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as supply constraints of automotive semiconductors and shipping containers.
Yulon forecast that sales would decline 3.8 percent from 444,000 vehicles sold last year.
The automaker in November last year estimated a slower decline of 2.9 percent to 431,000 units.
Photo: Amy Yang, Taipei Times
The government might also phase out incentives for replacing older vehicles, which would weigh on the market, Yulon vice president Lee Chien-hui (李建輝) told investors in Taipei.
Vehicle buyers are eligible to a NT$50,000 (US$1,758) commodity tax refund when buying a new vehicle while retiring an old one.
Due to concerns over the possible cancelation of the policy, vehicle sales in the first quarter increased by 17.3 percent year-on-year to 118,000 units, he said.
Despite a conservative outlook for the local market, Lee said that Yulon’s operations stabilized following two years of turnaround efforts.
Yulon posted a net profit of NT$2.74 billion last year, reversing losses of NT$24.47 billion in 2019. Earnings per share were NT$2.8, compared with losses per share of NT$26.13 a year earlier.
Gross margin climbed to 23 percent from 7 percent.
Yulon’s real-estate development project in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) progressed well, the automaker said.
Bookstore chain operator Eslite Spectrum Corp (誠品生活) and movie theater chain Vieshow Cinemas (威秀影城) are two of its tenants, Lee said.
The project would be completed in the fourth quarter of next year as scheduled, he said.
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