Car sales in Taiwan in 2023 hit highest level for 18 years

Taipei, Jan. 6 (CNA) Car sales for 2023 in Taiwan reached the highest level in 18 years, rising 11 percent from 2022, partly on the back of the government providing subsidies to encourage the replacement of old models, according to statistics compiled by local transportation authorities.

In addition, deferred deliveries from 2022 due to a chip shortage, the debut of new models and an increase in the arrival of imported cars also pushed up 2023 sales, industrial sources said.

The data released earlier this week showed car sales in the local market totaled 476,987 units in 2023, up 11 percent from a year earlier.

In Taiwan, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications records a sale as happening on the day a car is delivered and given a license plate, rather than when the sales contract is signed.

A total of 112,141 imported luxury cars were sold in 2023, up 19.1 percent from a year earlier. It was also the first time sales of imported luxury cars topped 100,000 units, accounting for about 23.5 percent of total sales volume in Taiwan, the data indicated.

Among popular luxury cars, Lexus model sales topped 30,000 units in 2023, up more than 50 percent from a year earlier, with sales of Tesla, Volvo, AUDI and Porsche all up more than 10 percent from last year, according to the data.

Hotai Motor Co., which serves as the sales agent for Toyota and Lexus in Taiwan, sold a record high 159,175 cars in 2023, up 11.5 percent from a year earlier to remain the top seller in the country.

China Motor Corp., an agent of the Mitsubishi brand reported sales of 51,322 cars in 2023, up 18.6 percent from a year earlier, ahead of Honda (30,420 units, up 11.1 percent), Mercedes-Benz (24,439, up 4.5 percent) and Nissan, including Infiniti, (23,818 units, down 5.0 percent, the data showed.

In December alone, car sales in Taiwan totaled 43,146 units, up 3 percent from a year earlier with Hotai Motor reporting sales of 14,645 units and taking a 34 percent share of the local car market. Sales of Toyota models reached 12,837 units in December, accounting for 29.7 percent of the total in Taiwan.

Hotai Motor has predicted car sales in January will soar 35 percent from a year earlier to about 47,000 units as consumers tend to buy new cars ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts on Feb. 8.

Hotai Motor said car brands in Taiwan have continued their promotional campaigns in January to boost buying, offsetting the impact of uncertainties caused by the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections.