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| Luxgen7 SUVs rolling along the assembly line... |
Like many Asian nations, Taiwan applies import duty to encourage local car production. Imports account for about a third of all sales, so the tariff - which is I believe is 17.5% - keeps assembly going but is also low enough to allow imported cars to sell. VW had contemplated starting up a plant but has decided not to, stating the import duty wasn't enough to justify the investment. I think VW product is more the issue.
In some years in the past, total volume of vehicles produced exceeded 400,000 units but despite a 12% gain, it wasn't achieved in 2014.
Car: Toyota became the largest car maker in 1997, passing Ford/Mazda. Then Nissan was on top from 1998 until 2001, when Toyota was back and this time stayed there. Hyundai was as high as third largest producer in 1999 but has slipped back recently. Honda started assembly in 2003 and soon gained a solid following. Luxgen arrived in 2009, a brand created by local firm Yulon, who also manufacture Nissan vehicles. It makes an MPV, an SUV and a car. The name is taken from the words luxury and genius.
| Car | |||||||||
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Make | 2014 | % | + / - | |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Toyota | 193,917 | 58.3% | 19% | |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Nissan | 43,416 | 13.1% | 8% | |
| 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | Honda | 23,675 | 7.1% | -6% | |
| 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 4 | Ford | 16,973 | 5.1% | 23% | |
| 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 5 | Luxgen | 16,886 | 5.1% | 99% | |
| 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | Mitsubishi | 15,142 | 4.6% | -13% | |
| 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | Hyundai | 13,156 | 4.0% | 1% | |
| 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | Mazda | 9,332 | 2.8% | -4% | |
| - | - | - | - | 9 | Kia | 132 | 0.0% | n/a | |
| 9 | 9 | - | - | - | Suzuki | ||||
| Total | 332,629 | 14% | |||||||
Utility: Mitsubishi is the big brand for commercial vehicles, with two thirds of all sales.
| Utility | |||||||||
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Make | 2014 | % | + / - | |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Mitsubishi | 30,061 | 64.5% | 18% | |
| 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Toyota | 10,409 | 22.3% | -2% | |
| 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Ford | 4,531 | 9.7% | -56% | |
| 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | Hyundai | 900 | 1.9% | 48% | |
| 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | DAF | 671 | 1.4% | 6% | |
| 5 | 5 | 6 | - | 6 | Nissan | 22 | n/a | ||
| 7 | 7 | - | - | - | Isuzu | ||||
| - | 8 | - | - | - | Suzuki | ||||
| Total | 46,594 | -2% | |||||||
| Grand Total | 379,223 | 12% | |||||||
Data source: TVMA.
Summary: Toyota is the big brand in Taiwan and nothing will change that. Imports are gaining in share but domestically assembled operations will continue to be the main supplier of vehicles for the foreseeable future.
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| ...and the finished product |
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