Taiwan’s new vehicle market plunged by 23% to 31,910 units in May 2025 from 41,487 units in the same month last year, according to registration data compiled by Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation.
Overall vehicle demand in the country has weakened significantly in recent months, following two years of strong growth, despite a pick-up in economic activity in the country. GDP growth exceeded expectations in the first quarter of the year, coming in at 5.4% year-on-year after slowing to 2.8% in the fourth quarter of 2024, driven mainly by a rebound in exports while domestic consumption remained sluggish.
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In the first five months of the year the vehicle market declined by almost 14% to 164,647 units from 190,924 units in the same period last year, with sales of domestically-produced vehicles dropping by 17% to 84,123 units while import sales declined by 10% to 80,524 units. Sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) amounted to 9,908 units in this period, led by Tesla with 2,996 units; followed by local automaker Luxgen with 1,628 units; BMW 1,515 units, and Mercedes with 1,061 units.
The performances of the individual brands varied significantly year-to-date, with market leader Toyota enjoying a 3% increase to 51,417 units; followed by its Lexus division with a 9% rise to 13,692 units; Mercedes-Benz 11,142 units (-4%); China Motor 11,008 (+26%); Honda 7,921 units (-30%); Hyundai 7,497 (-29%); BMW 7,339 (-4%); Mitsubishi 5,375 (-18%); and Ford 5,170 (-16%).
Last year Taiwan reintroduced minimum local content requirements for locally-assembled vehicles – regulations that had been discontinued more than two decades ago. Under the new rules locally-assembled vehicles are required to have a minimum local content of 15% in their first year of production, rising to 25% in the second year and 35% in the third year. The government claims the new regulation is mainly aimed at ensuring minimum safety standards while also protecting the country’s component sector.
