Motorcycles Sales in Taiwan Surge 80% in First Four Months of 2011

Taipei, May 11, 2011 (CENS)--Sales of motorcycles in Taiwan amounted to 178,467 units in the past four months of this year, representing a brisk growth of nearly 80% from a year earlier, according to official statistics issued by Taiwan's Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

During the period, Kwang Yang Motor sold 70,869 units of various motorcycles for a market share of 39.7% to lead the market, trailed by Sangyang Industry which commanded a 29% share with sales of 51,769 units. Yamaha Motor Taiwan came third with a share of 26.5% or 47,359 units.

With domestic demand staying strong, industry insiders mentioned that overall motorcycles sales in Taiwan will keep trending upward during the second quarter of this year, and are estimated at between 600,000 and 700,000 units throughout the year.

Sales in April, however, shrank nearly 30% from March to only 42,604 units due mainly to the aftermath of Japan's 9.0-magnitude earthquake, which has damaged a supply chain of key parts and components, especially jet engine control chipsets and carburetors, indicated industry insiders.

Consequently, Japan's supply squeeze has forced local manufacturers to delay shipments of their motorcycles, especially Japan's high-priced models, and caused overall sales to decline in April. The situation won't change in a short time, as insiders mentioned that the supply chain of Japan-made motorcycle parts will have to take one to two months more to recover. Fortunately, local distributors and agents still hold quite a few inventories on hand to feed the market, helping to cushion the impact on overall sales.

Noteworthy is that local consumers have increasingly turned to low-priced motorcycles, which commanded over a half of overall sales in April approximately.

Motorcycle Sales in Taiwan
Period	April		Jan.-Apr.
Company	Sales (unit)	Y-on-Y Growth Rate	Sales (unit)	Market Share	Y-on-Y Growth Rate
Kwang Yang Motor	17745	39.6%	70869	39.7%	119.5%
Sangyang Industry	12564	35.5%	51769	29.0%	84.8%
Yamaha Motor Taiwan	9778	-5.4%	47359	26.5%	31.6%
Others	2517	137.9%	8470	4.7%	178.1%
Total	42604	27.6%	178467	100.0%	79.7%

Source: Ministry of Transportation and Communications