New vehicle sales in Taiwan fell 20% to 26,267 units in February 2024 from 32,819 units a year earlier, according to the ministry of transportation.
While underlying demand for new vehicles remained strong, sales activity last month was held back by fewer working days due to the Lunar New Year holidays. The market continued to be supported by a strong domestic economy, new model launches and dealer promotions.
Sales year to date (YTD) were still up 5% at 71,088 units from 67,607 with sales of locally produced vehicles rising 7.5% to 40,050 units while import sales increased 2.3% to 31,038 units.
Sales of battery electric vehicles reached just 1,878 units with BMW leading the BEV segment with 686 sales followed by Mercedes-Benz with 383.
Sales of Toyota vehicles were slightly lower at 19,836 units in the first two months of the year while Lexus sales increased 10% to 4,963 units helped by the introduction of its new LBX compact model, Honda 4,820 units (+21%), Mercedes-Benz 4,560 (+4%), Hyundai 4,336 (+29%), MG 3,993 (+190%), China Motor 3,603 (+21%), Nissan 3,167 (-5%), Ford 2,468 (-30%) and BMW 2,373 (-19%).
Hotai Motor, the local distributor of Toyota, Lexus and Hino, last month said it was targeting record sales of 170,000 units this year, helped by the introduction of new models including the revamped Camry sedan and the new Lexus UX 300h, as well as stable global output following the recent semiconductor shortages.
