The cost of fuel continues to rise and awareness of the need to stem carbon dioxide emissions is increasing in much of the developed world, but neither of these issues appears to have had much of an impact on Taiwan's car-buying public, which continues to buck international trends and fills its garages with gas-guzzling and polluting sport-utility vehicles (SUVs).
In recent years sales of these hardy automobiles -- designed for use on off-road terrain but more commonly found plying the nation's far-from-rugged highways -- have increased by over 200 percent.
Six years ago SUV sales accounted for a mere 6 percent of the market, yet according to the latest statistics, sales of both domestically manufactured and imported SUVs now account for approximately 21 percent of the nation's total auto sales of roughly 500,000 a year.
"There are more SUVs taking to the roads in Taiwan every year. In a way it's like a fashion trend. [SUVs] are popular in the US and Japan, so local people see them as a must-have," said William Chu (朱嘉偉), editorial manager of the online automotive publication Car News International "I think one of the biggest incentives to purchasing SUVs is about `face' rather than convenience and suitability."
It may be a matter of face for car buyers looking to impress, but for the millions of non-SUV owners the increase in the number of off-road vehicles with large engines taking the streets poses a clear and present danger.
Cars with engine capacities of 2,500cc produce anywhere from 75g to 150g more carbon dioxide per kilometer than regular automobiles. And with more and more SUVs taking to the roads in an already environmentally unbalanced nation, the impact of SUVs on the health of Taiwan could be far reaching.
"The health risks posed by SUVs have become an issue in Europe and Japan, but the environmental impact of such vehicles is not being taken seriously in Taiwan at the moment," said Steven Yang (楊湘泉) of the Hotai Motor Company. "It is a critical issue, though, and one that certainly needs addressing sooner rather than later."
In Europe, the US and Japan the dangers posed by SUVs are already starting to be addressed. Environmental groups have staged demonstrations and national EPA offices have also taken up the cause. Larger SUVs are considered to be so polluting and dangerous, in fact, that one UK-based environmental-protection group recently went so far as to say that "[SUVs] should carry a cigarette-packet-style health warning."
One of the leading factors behind the increased popularity of SUVs in Taiwan is local car manufacturing. As recently as five years ago all SUVs were imported and ownership was something only the rich could enjoy.
Taiwan-centered car-manufacturing giants -- Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Ford and Mitsubishi -- have successfully carved out their own pieces of the lucrative SUV-sales pie. SUV prices have been slashed to all-time lows and now locally produced SUVs cost as little as slightly-higher-end four-door family sedans.
"The cost of an SUV has come down so much that many of the locally manufactured 1,600cc and 1,800cc [SUVs] now cost as little as a 2,000cc family sedan," said Yang. "When people upgrade or renew their cars now they can afford the type of vehicle that four or five years ago would have been totally out of their price range. It's not surprising that so many people want to own one now."
High-end imported V6 and V8 SUVs with engine capacities greater than 2,500cc still cost upward of NT$3million, but they now account for a mere 2 percent of the local SUV market. The remaining 19 percent has been divided up by the "Big Five" manufacturers, whose less potent but still polluting SUVs cost on average between NT$500,000 and NT$900,000.
Leading the pack of locally produced SUVs to date this year is Honda's CR-V, which totaled sales of 1,767 units last month. Nissan's S-Trial, which ships in both 2,000cc and 2,500cc models, comes second, with sales of 1,372 units. And taking third place is the Ford Escape, which comes with either a 2,300cc or a behemoth 3,000cc engine, and saw sales of 1,300 units in April. The retail value of all of these models is less than NT$1 million, which is a far cry from the nation's leading imported SUVs.
The most popular imported SUV currently cruising Taiwan's highways is the Lexus RX330, followed by the BMW X5 and the Mercedes ML350, all of which will cost a wannabe high-end SUV owner between NT$3 million and NT$5 million. According to Chu of Car News International, the cost of owning a high-end imported SUV is set to increase, and the prices of locally produced SUVs have already bottomed out.
"Locally manufactured [SUVs] are not going to get any cheaper. I think that with retail prices currently as low as NT$500,000, neither the market nor the manufacturers could survive a drop in retail costs," said Chu. "With prices this low people are going to continue to buy [SUVs] regardless of the problems or the fact they never take them off road."
SUVs of all shapes and sizes may be common sights on the streets of Taiwan, but many of the vehicles are in fact not quite what they seem. They may be big, they may look robust and their owners may block entire lanes with errant parking, but under the hood many a Taiwanese SUV is in fact nothing but a family sedan in disguise.
In order to slash both manufacturing and retail costs the Big Five have begun installing smaller engines in many of their popular SUVs. Instead of using engines with capacities exceeding 2,000cc, urban wannabe off-roaders can now purchase a 1,600cc or 1,800cc SUV. It may look the same as its bigger brothers, but try taking one of these off the road and you won't get very far.
"Not everyone wants to own a big four-wheel-drive SUV. People in Taiwan don't buy them in order to drive off-road, they buy them to use like large family sedans," said Peng Chou-bi (
Regardless of what lies under the hood of a cheap Taiwan-manufactured SUV or a more luxurious import model, the popularity of SUVs could stall long before the health and environmental issues have been addressed in Taiwan. Motor-industry insiders predict that within five years local car buyers could be switching from off-roa-ders back to more standard family sedans.
"Taiwan's car market is a lot like that of Japan, where, after SUV sales reached 30 percent of the nation's total annual auto-market sales, they leveled out and haven't increased since," said Yang. "Taiwan's car-replacement cycle is about four years, so the chances are that those who have purchased an SUV over the last year or so could and probably will switch back to sedans when it comes time to renewing their car in four years."
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