Hotai Motor unit to start car accessory business in China

The Central News Agency (Taipei) - Hotai Motor Co. Ltd., a Taiwan-based distributor for Japanese car maker Toyota, said Tuesday that one of its units will start a car accessory business in China to tap the huge auto market there.

Hotai said its car accessory vendor unit, Carmax Co. Ltd., has set up a company in China, with two branches scheduled to begin operations in March in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Hotai said car accessories provided by Carmax, such as auto navigation systems, global positioning systems and radar systems, are certified by Toyota.

Carmax, set up in July 2001, has ranked as the largest car accessory vendor in Taiwan for five years, Hotai said.

Hotai said that as the car accessory market in China is still in its infancy, Carmax is expecting great potential for growth.

Carmax will model its China operations on its development experience in Taiwan to penetrate the Chinese auto accessory market.

In 2010, Carmax posted more than NT$2.5 billion (US$86.02 million) in sales, up 30 percent from 2009, when the company's sales also rose about 30 percent from 2008, according to Hotai.

Hotai said that as the parent company has 12 footholds in several major Chinese cities, including Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing, it is expected to lend as much support as it can to Carmax for the China expansion.

Market observers said annual car sales in China total about 20 million units, compared with Taiwan, where only about 300,000 units are sold per year.