Domestic sales of new cars hit a 22-year low last month at 16,737 units, down 22.6 percent from a year earlier, an auto distributor said, attributing the drop to the plunging stock market and three successive typhoons last month.
In the first nine months of the year, 182,016 new cars were sold, down 27.2 percent from a year earlier, according to statistics compiled by Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which distributes both Toyota and Lexus models, and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC).
Roger Chiu (邱奕嘉), head of public relations at Hotai Motor, said that in addition to high oil prices, the plunging stock market and the US financial crisis had made the public wary about the economy, causing them to refrain from spending.
“This is particularly evident in the nation’s climbing savings rate,” Chiu said.
In an attempt to stimulate sales, Hotai Motor set prices for its imported Toyota RAV4 compact sports utility vehicle (SUV) — introduced to the local market in late August — close to those of domestic SUVs.
Last month Hotai Motor sold 572 of the RAV4s imported from Japan. By comparison, it sold 592 Honda CR-Vs.
Total new car sales are expected to fall between 220,000 and 230,000 units this year, representing a drop of nearly 30 percent from 326,777 units last year, Chiu said.
CHANGE OF FORTUNES: Concern over a pricey valuation and the risk of tighter US curbs on chip sales to China have poured cold water on TSMC’s bullish momentum Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares fell the most in three months yesterday upon trading resumption, joining a global technology rout as investors dramatically soured on the promises of artificial intelligence (AI). The shares declined 5.62 percent to close at NT$924 in Taipei, dragging down the benchmark TAIEX, which fell 3.29 percent to 22,119.21 points amid a technical correction, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Other chip stocks also fell, with ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) plunging 9.86 percent, MediaTek Inc (聯發科) dropping 2.35 percent, Realtek Semiconductor Corp (瑞昱) falling 1.33 percent and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) retreating 1.17 percent, while Apple
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South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd is slowing construction of its third plant with General Motors Co (GM) in Michigan amid lackluster demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and worries about political change in the US. LG Energy is “adjusting the speed of overall investment” and “seeking ways for the flexible operation” of its plants, the company told Bloomberg News yesterday, but added that it does not mean the company is suspending construction. LG and General Motors started construction of the facility in 2022, pledging to spend about US$2.6 billion. Operations were supposed to begin in the first half of