CMC to Launch Locally-made Mitsubishi Outlander SUV

Taipei, Jan. 16, 2008 (CENS)--Taiwan's automaker China Motor Corp. (CMC), which locally produces Mitsubishi car models, recently announced that it would push the locally assembled Mitsubishi Outlander sport utility vehicle (SUV) model after the presidential elections in late March and aims to sell 1,000 units of the new product per month.

CMC said that its new model targets to challenge the long best-selling SUV, the Honda CR-V, which accounted for 38.8% of the overall domestic SUV market in 2007.

Sanyang Industry Co., Ltd. pushed its locally produced Hyundai Santa Fe diesel-engine SUV in late 2007 and has won orders for over 800 units, forcing the company to delay the delivery to mid-February.

Sales of SUVs enjoyed a boom in five to six years ago in Taiwan and some star models such as Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute, Nissan X-Trail have been eating shares from sedan counterparts.

Industry sources pointed out that another replacement demand peak for SUVs started in 2007, in which Honda CR-V countered the plunging new-car sales trend by selling an average of 1,500 units per month.

CMC officials reported that SUV sales reached about 34,000 units in 2007 on the island, accounting for over 10% of the overall domestic automobile sales, and the annual volume is expected to continue growing by over 10% to reach 37,600 units. The company plans to push the locally made Outlander SUV powered by a 2,400cc gasoline engine (rather than a 3,000cc engine adopted on the previously imported model), and in two versions including two-wheel and four-wheel drive (2WD/4WD).

CMC pays much attention to the new Outlander, which is the first new-car model pushed after Kenneth Yen, incumbent Yulon Group CEO, took the helm as also president of CMC in October 2007.

Hotai Motor Co. Ltd., local agent of both locally-made and imported Toyota and Lexus cars as well as the long-term No. 1 auto dealer in Taiwan, has decided to import the new-generation Toyota RAV4 SUV for local sales and begin promoting locally-made models one to two years later.

2007 SUV Sales in Taiwan
Make	Model	Maker (Agent)	Volume	Share
Honda	CR-V	Honda Taiwan	17,590	38.8%
Hyundai	Tucson	Sanyang	5,158	11.4%
Nissan	X-Trail	Yulon Nissan	3,827	8.5%
Ford	Escape	Ford Lio Ho	3,662	8.1%
Mazda	Tribute	Mazda Taiwan	1,480	3.3%
Suzuki	Vitara	Prince Motor	1,471	3.2%
Mitsubishi	Zinger	CMC	2,103	4.6%
Hyundai	Santa Fe	Sanayng	32	--
Others			9,962	22.0%
Total			45,286	100.0%
Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC), Honda Taiwan.