New car sales last month grew for a third consecutive month and expanded 5.7 percent from October to 36,485 units as consumers regained interest thanks to tax incentives unveiled in September and eased concerns over US tariffs, market researcher U-Car said in a report on Monday.
On an annual basis, sales were still in a downward spiral, dipping 6.8 percent, the data showed.
Total sales in the first 11 months of this year were 367,133 units, 11.8 percent lower compared with the same period last year.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan International Ports Corp
Overall, the improvement indicates a gradual revival of sentiment in the market, the U-Car report said.
“For the full year, it would require a miracle to see sales catch up with last year’s level,” it said.
The nation’s car sales have been weak since April following US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariff announcement, as car buyers took to the sidelines waiting for the results of Taiwan-US trade talks over the tariffs issue.
U-Car said the nation’s new car sales this year would be down at least 10 percent from last year’s 457,000 units.
Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產) last month forecast sales of 400,000 units for this year, down from its previous estimate of 450,000 units.
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which distributes Toyota and Lexus cars in Taiwan, sold 13,933 units last month, up 9.4 percent from October. That gave it a 38.2 percent market share, defending its top ranking.
On an annual basis, the company’s car sales were down 1.5 percent, almost paring losses made in previous months.
Hotai expects the nation’s new car sales this month to grow about 4 percent year-on-year to 43,000 units, the strongest performance this year, as automakers and dealers are launching promotion programs and new models to stimulate sales during the peak season.
However, the company trimmed its total sales target for this year to about 165,000 units from 170,000 units estimated at the beginning of this year, attributable to insufficient supply.
It also reduced its market share goal to about 35 percent from 37.8 percent.
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