Taiwan's Carmakers See Shrinking Revenues in August

Taipei, Sept.14, 2012 (CENS)--Due to traditional off-season in July or Chinese Ghost Month, and high reference for the same period of last year that saw robust new car sales after Japan's 311 earthquake, most listed carmakers in Taiwan saw revenues in August shrink: Three subsidiaries of Yulon Motors posted 6~18% decrease year on year (YoY), contrasted against Hotai Motor Co. Ltd. and Sanyang Industry that saw revenues rise slightly driven by new car sales.

Despite new car sales growing 9% YoY in August, Yulon Nissan Motor Co. (Nissan brand) suffered 18% YoY decline to NT$1.844 billion (US$61.47 million) in revenues, lower than market expectations, mainly due to early deliveries of new cars to dealers in July.

Yulon Motors, parent of Yulon Nissan Motor Co., saw revenues in August reach NT$2.239 billion (US$74.63 million), offsetting annual reduction to 8.19% due to the start of shipments of the Luxgen Sedan, which eased lackluster performance of Yulon Nissan. China Motor Corp., another affiliate of Yulon, saw revenues decline 6.83% YoY to NT$2.306 billion (US$76.87 million) in August

Hotai and Sanyang saw revenues in August grow 5% and 4%, respectively, which lagged sales increase that was due to earlier deliveries of new cars in July.

A source at car agent said, due to aggressive sales in the first half of August, dealers pre-pay for new cars in July, resulting in booked difference between new car sales and revenues in August.

An industry source said, despite similar markets in September and August, revenues in September is predicted to grow from August as some carmakers are expected to deliver cars to dealers to enable their inventory build-up to prepare for rising sales at year-end.