Taiwan's new vehicle market declined by 11.4% to 33,528 units in May 2020 from 37,829 units a year earlier, according to local reports citing registration data compiled by the Directorate of Highways.
After growing over 8% to 104,046 units in the first quarter of the year, the market has come pressure in the last two months from weakening consumer and business sentiment as the COVID19 pandemic kept economies around the world under varying degrees of lockdown.
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Taiwan itself has coped well with the pandemic, having reported one of the lowest infection rates in the world, and domestic economic activity has already begun to normalise.
Vehicle sales in the first five months of the year were down just slightly at 168,396 units from 168,683 units in the same period of last year.
Imported vehicles slightly outperformed in this period, with sales rising by 7.9% to 84,836 units from 78,641 units a year earlier, while domestic sales declined by 7.2% to 83,560 units from 90,042 units.
Toyota reported a 5% sales rise to 47,914 units year to date, thanks to strong demand for the Corolla and RAV4 models; while Yulon Nissan sales fell by 12.8% to 12,081 units; Mercedes-Benz 11,541 units (-5.0%); Honda 10,099 (-21.6%); Mitsubishi 9,195 (-7.0%); and Lexus 9,116 (+13.1%).
