New vehicle sales in Taiwan fell by 8% to 23,964 units in August from 26,035 units in the same month of last year, according to local reports citing registration data compiled by Taiwan's Directorate of Highways.
Last month's sales were also more than 50% lower than July's total volume of 48,429 units, as superstitious buyers stayed away from the market during the 'ghost' month – the seventh month after the Lunar New Year.
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Many Taiwanese believe buying durable goods during this four week period brings bad luck for the rest of the year.
Total vehicle sales in the first eight months of the year were 4.1% lower at 279,315 units from 291,285 units in the same period of last year, with sales of domestically produced vehicles falling by 8.5% to 148,956 units while import sales were 1.4% higher at 130,359 units, accounting for almost 47% of total volume.
Toyota and Lexus sales increased by 8.8% to 89,681 units in the first eight months of the year, helped by the recent launch of the new Corolla Altis [sedan]- the country's best-selling model, and also the RAV4.
Second place Yulon Nissan saw its sales increase by 3.3% to 22,392 units; Honda Taiwan sold 21,134 units (-19.0%); and Mercedes-Benz 18,891 units (-3.7%).
