New vehicle sales in Taiwan last month surged about 30 percent year-on-year to 42,380 units, aided by auto dealers’ promotional campaigns and increased sales of new luxury vehicles, government statistics released yesterday showed.
Although auto sales last month contracted 0.2 percent on a month-on-month basis, the figure was the highest for the month since June 2005, when sales reached 47,384 units, the data showed.
In the first half of this year, sales rose about 16 percent annually to 234,857 units, a sign that the domestic auto market is emerging from a trough caused by the COVID-19 pandemic amid recovering private consumption, market researcher U-Car said yesterday.
Photo: Amy Yang, Taipei Times
U-Car said it expects robust sales later this year, as automakers and dealers are speeding up the introduction of new models made domestically or abroad in the second half.
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which distributes Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Taiwan, said the local auto market performed better than it expected in the first six months of the year.
That growth momentum is expected to extend into this month, with total sales estimated to increase 15 percent year-on-year, or 3.82 percent month-on-month, to 44,000 units, Hotai said.
Imported vehicles made up 53 percent of total sales last month — the highest level in more than three years — as consumers bought 22,433 units, 54.8 percent more than a year earlier and a 6.7 percent gain from the previous month.
Toyota was the top imported vehicle brand last month, with 3,090 new units registered, and its Corolla Cross was the best-selling imported model at 2,481 units, Hotai said.
Lexus was second with 3,003 units sold, making it the best-selling luxury vehicle brand for five months in a row, Hotai said.
Mercedes-Benz ranked third with sales of 2,378 units last month, up 43 percent year-on-year and 10.6 percent month-on-month, while Tesla Inc grabbed the fourth spot with sales of 2,296 units, a 2.83 percent increase from a year earlier and 10.2 percent from May.
Volkswagen ranked fifth with sales soaring 85.5 percent annually and 7.3 percent month-on-month to 1,627 units.
Yulon Nissan Motor Co (裕隆日產), which distributes Nissan and Infiniti vehicles in Taiwan, said Nissan did not make it to the top 10 last month due to key component shortages.
As customer orders far outpaced the company’s ability to deliver, it would likely take one year for some popular models to reach buyers, it said.
The company had orders for more than 1,300 units as of last month.
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