New vehicle sales in Taiwan last month fell 13.4 percent from the previous month to 38,231 units due to fewer working days, which affected the issuance of new license plates.
However, last month’s figure was up 8.4 percent from a year earlier and the highest in 18 years for the month of April, as purchase momentum remained stable and some imported brands had sufficient models for sale, online market researcher U-Car.com said in a report yesterday.
Sales of imported brands — including Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Audi, BMW, Volkswagen and Mazda — fell 9.4 percent month-on-month, but rose 22.1 percent annually to 18,651 units, U-Car said.
Photo: AFP
The overall market share of imported brands increased to 48.8 percent last month, from 46.6 percent the previous month, it said.
Sales of Lexus vehicles rose 93.2 percent annually to 3,151 units, while Mercedes-Benz sales grew 16.4 percent to 2,233 units and Volkswagen sales jumped 107.7 percent to 1,531 units, U-Car said.
Lexus has been the No. 1 imported brand in Taiwan for three consecutive months, the researcher’s data showed.
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which distributes Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Taiwan, reported sales of 13,251 units last month, up 6 percent from a year earlier thanks to robust demand for Corolla Cross sports utility vehicles (SUVs), U-Car said.
Steady demand for Toyota RAV4 SUVs, Altis sedans and compact Yaris cars also boosted Hotai’s sales last month, maintaining the company’s market lead with a share of 34.6 percent, it said.
Toyota is far ahead of second-placed Mercedes-Benz with a market share of 5.8 percent, U-Car data showed.
Nan Yang Industries Co (南陽實業), which distributes Hyundai vehicles, ranked third with sales of 2,060 units and a market share of 5.4 percent.
Ford Lio Ho Motor Co (福特六和) sold 1,930 vehicles with a market share of 5 percent, ahead of Nissan and Infiniti distributor Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產), which sold 1,855 units and had a market share of 4.9 percent.
From January to last month, total new vehicle sales in Taiwan rose 7.5 percent year-on-year to 149,999 units, with sales of imported brands increasing 17.8 percent from a year earlier to 69,580 units.
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