New vehicle sales in Taiwan last month dipped 11.7 percent year-on-year to 24,278 units, but still beat market expectations, as falling COVID-19 infections offset the effects of a global chip crunch and port congestion, Motor Vehicles Office data showed.
The figure represented a 40.2 percent decline from January due to seasonal factors and fewer working days.
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which distributes Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Taiwan, had expected new vehicle sales in Taiwan to reach 21,000 units last month.
“The improvement of COVID-19 infections in Taiwan helped lift vehicle sales in February, indicating that domestic demand remains robust,” Hotai spokesman Simon
New vehicle sales in Taiwan plunged 20.6 percent year-on-year to 40,624 units last month, as a global chip shortage continued to take its toll on vehicle sales, statistics released by the Motor Vehicles Office showed.
The figure was lower than an estimate of 44,000 units by Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), the nation’s biggest vehicle distributor.
On a monthly basis, vehicle sales edged up 0.8 percent from 40,307 units in December.
As the chip crunch continues to be a major issue, Hotai expects new vehicle sales this month to dip by about 23 percent year-on-year to 21,000 units.
Fewer working days due to
New vehicle sales rebound ahead of Ghost Month taipeitimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from taipeitimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Local vehicle sales tumble 9% as buyers stay at home
By Lisa Wang / Staff reporter
New vehicle sales last month slumped 9.2 percent to 34,403 units from 37,901 units in April as the market took a hit from a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert, data compiled by online market researcher U-Car.com showed.
That represented an annual increase of 2.6 percent.
In the first five months of this year, new vehicle sales expanded at an annual rate of 15.1 percent to 193,879 units, the data showed.
Vehicles are pictured in a parking lot in Pingtung City on May 6.
Photo: Hou Cheng-hsu, Taipei Times
The monthly decline came unexpectedly, with automakers expecting an uptrend at the beginning of the year that would stretch into the summer, the researcher said.