New vehicle sales last month rose 17 percent from the previous month and 0.3 percent from a year earlier to 38,192 units, as Taiwan’s COVID-19 situation continued to ease and consumer spending picked up ahead of Ghost Month, data compiled by online market researcher U-Car.com showed yesterday.
Ghost Month, the seventh month of the lunar calendar, started on Friday and runs through Aug. 26. The month is generally considered an inauspicious time to purchase new vehicles or homes.
Sales of imported brands — including Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Audi, BMW, Volkswagen and Mazda — grew 2.7 percent monthly, but fell 17.3 percent annually to 14,889 units, the researcher said.
Photo courtesy of Luxgen Motor Co
U-Car attributed the decline to a shortage of vehicles on the market, with sales of Mercedes-Benz vehicles dropping 9.5 percent monthly and 31.2 percent annually to 1,504 units, and BMW sales falling 37.2 percent monthly and 2.2 percent annually to 1,375 units.
The overall market share of imported brands dropped to 39 percent last month, from 44.4 percent the previous month, the researcher said.
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which distributes Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Taiwan, reported sales of 11,620 units, up 28.7 percent from last month and 12.8 percent from a year earlier, thanks to robust demand for Corolla Cross sports utility vehicles (SUVs), U-Car said.
Last month, Honda Taiwan Co’s (台灣本田) sales increased 41.5 percent monthly and 16.7 percent annually to 2,946 vehicles on the back of steady sales of its HR-V subcompacts and CR-V SUVs.
Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產), which distributes Nissan and Infinity vehicles, saw sales increase 46.1 percent month-on-month and 10.6 percent year-on-year to 2,301 units, boosted by higher deliveries of its Kicks SUVs and Sentra sedans, while Ford Lio Ho Motor Co’s (福特六和) sales reached 2,217 units, up 4 percent monthly, but down 16.8 percent annually.
The top four vendors accounted for 49.9 percent of the overall market share last month in terms of sales, the data showed.
From January to last month, new vehicle sales in Taiwan fell 7.1 percent year-on-year to 241,343 units, with sales of imported brands down 15.6 percent from a year earlier to 102,525 units.
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