Taiwan’s new vehicle market expanded by 14.5% to 47,303 units in December 2025, up from 41,302 units in the same month of the previous year, according to registration data compiled by Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation. Taiwan’s vehicle market ended the year on a strong note, after the government increased incentives in September amid sluggish consumer sentiment.

In the whole of 2025, the vehicle market declined by 9.5% to 414,436 units from 457,842 units in the same period last year, with sales of domestically-produced vehicles falling by almost 11% to 212,448 units while import sales were down by 8.4% to 201,988 units. Sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) amounted to 32,559 units in this period, led by Tesla with 16,590 units, followed by BMW with 3,720 units, local automaker Luxgen with 3,464 units, and Mercedes-Benz with 1,833 units.

The performance of the individual brands varied significantly in the eleven-month period, with market leader Toyota reporting a slight decline to 124,907 units; followed by its Lexus luxury division with a slight increase to 28,628 units; CMC with 23,997 units (+20%); Honda 23,569 (-12%); Mercedes-Benz 22,893 (-13%); Hyundai 19,017 (-16%); and BMW 17,278 (-15%).

In 2024, 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 regulations are mainly aimed at ensuring minimum safety standards while also protecting the country’s component supply chain.

GlobalData expects the Taiwanese light vehicle market to continue to improve in 2026 following last month’s rebound, with sales forecast to rise to around 430,000, driven by continued strong growth in BEV sales and government incentives. The market is forecast to continue to grow in 2027.