Sales of New Cars in Taiwan up 20% YoY in Sept.
2014/10/15 | By Quincy LiangDriven by mainly sales increase of imported cars, overall new-car sales in Taiwan climbed 20.1% year-on-year (YoY) in September to 34,746 units, according to statistics compiled by Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC).
But sharp depreciation of the Japanese yen against the greenback is pushing buyers to the sidelines as they eye locally-assembled Japanese makes and models, hampering further volume growth.
In September most luxury import brands saw impressive sales, with overall imported-car sales volume in the month up 24% YoY to take a record high market share of 35% in more than 10 years. Defeating many brands with local assemblers, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and BMW ranked the fifth-, sixth- and eighth marques, respectively, in Taiwan by selling 1,784 (22.8% YoY increase), 1,485 (up 85.2% YoY), and 1,476 (up 12.5% YoY) units.
Sales of Japanese imports, especially Lexus and Infiniti, however, still rose without being affected by the plummeting Japanese currency. Industry insiders attribute such phenomenon to high-end buyers' purchase capacity being not easily affected, coupled with undisclosed discounts offered by Japanese brands' local agents.
Huang Ming-hsian, sales executive of Hotai Motor Co. Ltd., local agent of Toyota and Lexus, says that despite the government asking local vendors of Japanese cars to cut prices, automakers have actually been reducing margins amid fierce competition in the domestic market, leaving no room for further discounts.
| New-car Sales by Top-10 Vendors in Taiwan (Sept. 2014) | |||
| Vendor/Brand
| Sept. Volume
| YoY
| MoM
|
| Hotai Motor / Toyota
| 11,475
| 34.4%
| 92.7%
|
| CMC / Mitsubishi
| 3,670
| 5.0%
| 75.8%
|
| Yulon Nissan / Nissan
| 3,577
| 19.6%
| 53.6%
|
| Ford Lio Ho Co. / Ford
| 1,922
| -15.5%
| 21%
|
| M-B Taiwan / Mercedes-Benz
| 1,784
| 22.8%
| 28.3%
|
| Honda Taiwan / Honda
| 1,598
| -16.6%
| 38.0%
|
| Taikoo / Volkswagen
| 1,485
| 85.2%
| 55.2%
|
| Pan German / BMW
| 1,476
| 12.5%
| 23.9%
|
| Sanyang / Hyundai
| 1,389
| 9.8%
| 20.8%
|
| Mazda Taiwan / Mazda
| 1,140
| 9.4%
| 40.7%
|
| Overall
| 34,746
| 20.1%
| 49.9%
|
| Source: MOTC
| |||