New Car Sales in Taiwan Hit 47-month Record in Dec. 2009
2010/01/11 | By Quincy LiangTaipei, Jan. 11, 2010 (CENS)--Reflecting drivers' wish to take advantage of official subsidies on new 2,000cc-or-smaller cars, Taiwan's new-car sales in December increased 162.8% year-on-year (YoY) to 44,977 units, a 47-month record.
Industry sources predicted automobile sales in January 2010 will drop sizably to between only 25,000 to 30,000 units due to expired incentive. The tax reduction totaling NT$30,000 (about US$923) per new car sold in 2009 drummed up sales only in the last few months of 2009, thanks partly to automakers' promotions to encourage buyers to sign deals by the year-end.
In 2009, some 294,423 new cars were sold in Taiwan, a 28.3% YoY increase.
Hotai Motor Co. Ltd., the local agent of both locally assembled and imported Toyotas and Lexus, led overall in December and 2009, selling more than 4,000 units of the version-change Toyota Wish wagon and more than 1,900 imported Toyota RAV4 sport utility vehicle (SUV).
In December 2009 only, Hotai sold 18,265 new cars, 16,854 units more than the overall sales volume by the No. 2 to No. 5 (Mitsubishi, Nissan, Honda and Ford). The best-seller last December was the Mercedes-Benz E-class.