Yulon Nissan of Taiwan Targets 10% Sales Growth in 2015

Yulon Nissan Motor Co., a joint venture between Taiwan's Yulon Group and Japanese automaker Nissan, and Taiwan's agent of Nissan and Infiniti, recently announced its 2014 new-car sales up by about 10%. In 2015 the company plans to launch a new model and looks to achieving 10% revenue growth.

Tapping advantage of the depreciating Japanese yen, Yulon Nissan said that it plans to purchase more auto parts from Japan to upgrade cost and quality competitiveness of its locally-assembled Nissans.

Driven by promising sales of its locally-assembled Nissan New Sentra compact sedans (launched in late 2013), Yulon Nissan sold about 48,000 new cars in Taiwan in 2014. Lee Cheng-chen, vice president of Yulon Nissan, said the company had originally targeted to sell some 45,000 new cars last year, but encouraging sales of the New Sentra and Livina have effectively raised the annual volume to 48,000 units.

To respond to the policy change of Taiwanese government, which has stopped subsidizing most hybrids sold locally, Yulon Nissan has decided not to introduce the new Infiniti hybrids. In May, the company plans to launch the locally-assembled Nissan X-Trail sport utility vehicle (SUV), which is expected to drive volume-growth for Yulon Nissan.

From late 2014, Yulon Nissan said, the Japense yen began to sharply depreciate; hence motivating  the company's plans to purchase more auto parts from Nissan Japan for local assembly of cars, while decreasing purchases from China and Thailand.

The cheaper Japanese yen, according to Yulon Nissan, will render the new X-Trail even-more competitive in Taiwan, with decreasing auto-parts costs (purchased from Japan) also expected to further enhance corporate earnings in 2015. In the past, Yulon Nissan purchased about one-third of its auto parts from Japan, one-third from China and Thailand, and the rest locally.  

In the first three quarters of 2014, Yulon Nissan registered accumulated revenue of NT$26.39 billion (US$879.7 million), for net earnings of NT$3.92 billion (US$130.6 million) and earnings per share (EPS) of NT$13.1 (US$0.44). Steady and strong sales of new cars in Taiwan and considerable return on investment from Chinese affiliates, especially major Chinese automaker Dongfeng, are expected to result in eye-catching numbers in its 2014 financial report.

Yulon Nissan's Revenue & Earnings (2010-2014*)
	2010	2011	2012	2013	Jan.-Sept., 2014
Revenue	NT$27.46 billion	NT$32.12 billion	NT$29.13 billion	NT$31.48 billion	NT$26.39 billion
Net Earnings	NT$2.88 billion	NT$3.83 billion	NT$4.93 billion	NT$7.3 billion	NT$3.92 billion
EPS	NT$9.61	NT$12.77	NT$16.43	NT$24.33	NT$13.06
*: January-September 2014 Source: Taiwan Stock Exchange's Market Observation Post System (MOPS)