Sanyang to Set Up Electro-scooter Making Project in Taiwan, China

Taipei, Aug. 5, 2008 (CENS)--Sanyang Industry Co., Ltd. (SYM), the second-largest powered two-wheeler (PTW) manufacturer in Taiwan, plans to set up a division-of-labor program in Taiwan and China to make electric scooters, according to local Chinese-language economic daily newspaper Economic Daily News (EDN).

Sanyang has set up an electric-scooter plant in China in the form of a fully-owned subsidiary, which now turns out several thousand vehicles monthly.

Sanyang says that the electric-scooter plant in China is in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province and was founded by a group of tributors selling products made by Xiashing Motorcycle Co., Ltd., Sanyang's China subsidiary producing gasoline-powered PTWs.

Sanyang plans to introduce electric scooter models from Taiwan for local production in China.

Gasoline-engine PTWs are prohibited in many big cities in China, so the sales of electric scooters have been increasing steadily.

Development of electric scooter industry in Taiwan had been rocky in the past but now shows new hope, after the Cabinet mapped out a policy goal to subsidize NT$15,000 (US$492 at US$1: NT$30.5) for each vehicle sold in Taiwan.

Industry sources said Sanyang has promised to the government that in next three years the company would sell 6,000 vehicles in the first year, and gradually raise such volume to 24,000 by the third year.

Sanyang executives say that eco-consciousness and highflying fuel prices have friven the company to focus on electric scooters. The company says the factory in Hangzhou is expected to be Sanyang's production base of models for the China market and price-competitive exports; while the Taiwan plant would produce upscale and more expensive models for Taiwan and overseas markets.

Sanyang president Huang Kwang-wuu once said that his company would not stick to the old concept that undermined popularizing electro-scooters-trying to replace gas-powered scooters with electrics-but reenter the market with innovative concepts and products.

Sanyang recently unveiled a foldable electric scooter, the RoboScooter, jointly developed with MIT Media Lab and the Creativity Laboratory of Industrial Technology Research Institute. The company said that it plans to volume produce the scooter in the second half of 2009.