Taiwanese car brand Luxgen to go international

Taiwanese car brand Luxgen is to begin selling its vehicles outside of Taiwan for the first time later this year, the manufacturer confirmed April 30.

Luxgen models will go on sale in Oman in the final quarter of 2010, the first overseas sales agreement signed by the brand.

The brand, which is owned by Taiwanese manufacturer Yulon, has garnered considerable interest after a debut at the Dubai Motor Show in December, but its vehicles have so far only been available in Taiwan.

Two models, the LUXGEN7 MPV and the LUXGEN7 SUV will be available in Oman from later this year, and the firm says that agreements for Vietnam and the Dominican Republic are close to being finalized.

The move is significant for the Taiwanese manufacturer, which has chosen to focus on emerging markets such as the Middle East, Central America, Russia, mainland China and South East Asia instead of mainstream European, Japanese or North American markets.

Luxgen has been phenomenally successful in its home country but faces a struggle to gain market share in a market dominated by Asian exports such as Toyota and Nissan.

However, it plans to carve a niche for itself in between the established names and mainland China's cut-price exporters such as BYD and Geely by flaunting its high-tech credentials - the on-board systems used by its vehicles have been designed by fellow Taiwanese electronics giant HTC.

The firm describes its vehicles as a "subtle combination of information technology and the auto industry" as they use an onboard computer designed to think ahead for the driver.

Examples of this technology in action include the cars' 360-degree surveillance cameras, a night vision system, Windows-driven apps and video and audio entertainment systems.