Taiwan’s new vehicle market fell by almost 5% to 33,148 units in August 2021 from 34,846 units a year earlier, according to registration data compiled by Taiwan’s Directorate of Highways.
Last month’s moderate decline came despite this year’s annual ‘ghost’ month falling on 8 August. According to Buddhist and Taoist tradition it brings bad luck to anyone buying large items in this 30-day period and is usually the low point in the country’s annual sales calendar.
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The government downgraded the severity of its coronavirus alert at the end of July, which provided some support to the market last month, after the vaccine roll-out was stepped up and the recent outbreak was gradually brought under control. The shortage of semiconductors continued to hold back vehicle deliveries, however.
The country’s economy rebounded by 7.5% year-on-year in the second quarter after shrinking by 12% in the same period of last year, driven by a 37% surge in exports – with strong international trade growth continuing in July.
In the first eight months of the year, the vehicle market was still 1.5% higher at 293,019 units from 288,656 in the same period of last year.
Domestic sales drove the market forward in this period with volume rising by 6.2% to 156,085 units helped by strong demand for locally-made models such as the Toyota Corolla Cross, the Ford Focus and Ford Kuga. Sales of imported vehicles fell by 3.3% to 136,934 units.
Toyota sales fell by 3% to 79,818 units year-to-date while Mercedes-Benz sales increased by over 6.8% to 19,819, Ford 18,444 (+12.7%), Nissan 18,072 (-14.3%), Honda 17,470 (-3.6%) and China Motor 15,834 (+1.54%).
