March auto sales in Taiwan up 19% to 23,004 units

Shanghai, April 9 (Gasgoo.com) Taiwan's vehicle sales last month grew 19% from a year earlier to 23,004 units, local media reported today, citing the island's transportation authorities. The March sales increased 27.2% from February.

In the first three months, more than 67,000 new cars were sold in Taiwan, an 18.9% year-on-year increase. Sales of commercial vehicles in the first quarter saw the first positive growth since 2006.

As March and April are usually peak months for commercial-vehicle sales, local automakers are optimistic toward the market in April. Hotai Motor Co. Ltd., the local Toyota and Lexus agent with market share exceeding 30% in Taiwan, has initiated aggressive sales campaigns.

Luxgen Motor, a subsidiary of Taiwan's largest automaker Yulon Group, sold 501 vehicles in March and 1,666 in the first three months, ranking 7th in Taiwan's auto market by sales of the month.

Taiwan's major auto industry players include Yulon Group, China Motor Corp. (Mitsubishi brand), Yulon Nissan Motor Co. (Nissan), and Honda Taiwan Motor Co. In 2009, there were 294,423 new cars sold in the Taiwan market, up 28.3%.

Yulon has started its joint venture project with mainland China's Dongfeng Motor Corp, to make Luxgen models in Hangzhou. It also plans to make Geely Panda-based minicars (renamed Tobe) in Taiwan.