Taiwan PTW makers upgrade horsepower in export sales

Taipei, Oct. 14, 2003 (CENS)--Major powered two wheeler (PTW) makers are actively boosting their export sales to counter the stagnated demand of the domestic market.

At least four companies have projected a minimum growth of 20% in their export sales next year, including Kwang Yang Motor Co., Ltd. (KYMCO brand), Sanyang Industry Co., Ltd. (SYM), Yamaha Motor Taiwan Co. (Yamaha) and Tailing Motor Co. Ltd. (Suzuki).

Yamaha Taiwan's vice president Lin Ji-sung recently said that his company just reached an agreement with its Japanese parent firm to further raise the export volume from the Taiwan subsidiary next year. According to Lin, Yamaha Taiwan is expected to ship about 140,000 scooters next year, up from about 110,000 units last year, to major markets including Japan, Europe and Southeast Asia through Yamaha's international sales channels.

Lin said that his company is scheduled to export about 110,000 units of the JOG 50cc scooter model to Japan next year, up 22% from about 90,000 units this year. Yamaha Taiwan also expects to deliver about 30,000 Fuzzy 125cc scooters to other markets next year.

Yamaha Taiwan said that Yamaha's headquarters in Japan has chosen the local subsidiary as its global production base of under-150cc scooter models and the export volume is expected to continue rising in the future. Industry sources said that Yamaha Taiwan's upgraded export volume next year would make the company challenge the leading exporter positions currently held by Kwang Yang and Sanyang.

Sanyang said that the termination of a 40-year cooperation with Honda of Japan last year totally lifted a ban on exports of its PTW products and the company expects to export about 30,000 PTWs this year. With some new models, including a 250cc scooter, Sanyang expects to ship a record amount of 50,000 PTWs next year.

Kwang Yang president Wang Shuang-chin claimed that his company already shipped a total of over 100,000 PTWs and ATVs to overseas markets in the first three quarters this year, and its annual export volume is expected to reach 120,000 units.

The annual domestic PTW sales volume would continue to shrink to only about 680,000 to 700,000 units next year. Facing the ever-shrinking domestic sales, Wang said that his company has been actively diversifying its product lines into relevant fields such as the electric scooters and all terrain vehicles (ATVs).

According to Wang, Kwang Yang will more actively boost export sales of its ATVs to about 30,000 units , and raise shipments of electric scooters for aged or handicapped people to 40,000 units, next year in the U.S. and European markets. The president claimed that his company expects to export a total of about 200,000 PTWs , electric scooters and ATVs in 2004.

Kwang Yang is actively working on several new models to further boost its export sales, including a new 400cc motorcycle model; some ATV models with engine displacements range from 50cc, 125cc to 250cc; and seven electric scooter models.

Tailing expected to export about 60,000 ATVs (through Suzuki's sales channels) to the North American market and abut 10,000 PTW engines to Japan this year. Tailing's vice president Huang Jao-hsin said that next year's export volume is expected to remain at the same level as recorded this year.

Huang stressed that Taiwan's PTW makers are facing fierce low-price competition from mainland Chinese rivals and are forced to effectively and rapidly upgrade their product quality to maintain their global competitiveness.

Huang added that Tailing has reached a 100% local content rate and expects to achieve a Japan-paralleled quality level in the coming three years.