New vehicle sales in Taiwan jumped by almost 60% to 36,575 units in August from weak year earlier sales of 22,874 units, according to local reports citing industry sources.
August last year was 'ghost' month – the seventh month of the lunar calendar which falls on different dates every year.
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Many Taiwanese think buying durable goods during this four-week period brings bad luck and typically stay away from the car market.
Local distributors expect sales to decline in September for the same reason, as the ghost month this year runs between 22 August and 19 September.
Last month, Toyota, Lexus and Hino distributor Hotai Motor sold 11,875 vehicles to claim a 32.5% market share, followed by Mitsubishi distributor China Motor Corporation with 4,055 sales and a market share of just over 11%.
Yulon Nissan Motors sold 3,034 vehicles last month, while Honda Taiwan sold 2,585 units and Mercedes-Benz Taiwan 2,204 units.
Sales in the first eight months of the year rose by 1.7% to 295,129 units, from 290,189 units in 2016.
