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Smooth LUXGEN Sales Drive Up Yulon's Oct. Revenue

2014/11/19 | By Quincy Liang

Yulon Group chairman Kenneth Yen (right) attended a new-car introduction for the group's own-brand LUXGEN model. (photo from UDN)
Yulon Group chairman Kenneth Yen (right) attended a new-car introduction for the group's own-brand LUXGEN model. (photo from UDN)

Yulon Motor Co., one of Taiwan's top automakers, has reported outstanding results for October. Thanks to smooth sales of the company's own LUXGEN-brand cars in Taiwan and China, it registered revenues of NT$11.59 billion (US$386.5 million) for the month, a 57.9% improvement over the same month of last year.

In the first 10 months the company's accumulated revenue reached NT$73.5 billion (US$2.45 billion), a 34.1% year-on-year (YoY) increase, although its accumulated net earnings of NT$3.92 billion (US$130.6 million) represented a sharp decline from NT$5.04 billion (US$167.9 million) a year earlier.

Industry sources say that Yulon's shrinking earnings for the first three quarters reflect the intense competition in the domestic automobile market, so that even the the sharp appreciation of Japanese Yen during the period--a factor that favorably affected local automakers' cost--could hardly compensate for thinning of profit margins. In the first three quarters, Yulon reported accumulated earnings per share (EPS) of NT$13.06 (US$0.44), down from NT$16.78 (US$0.56) a year earlier.

The company expects to sell more than 50,000 LUXGEN cars in China and about 10,000 units in Taiwan this year, marking a new milestone for the firm's own-brand car sales.

Most of the October growth in new-car sales in Taiwan came from imported cars, which accounted for more than 30% of the total.

Yulon affiliate China Motor Corp., which assembles and markets Mitsubishi cars in Taiwan, reported October revenues of NT$2.81 billion (US$93.7 million), a 11% YoY decline, and accumulated January-October revenues of NT$31.29 billion (US$1.04 billion), a 4.4% improvement.

Yulon Nissan Motor Co., the local vendor of Nissan cars and another affiliate of the Yulon Group, suffered a 18.2% YoY decline in revenue in October, to NT$2.48 billion (US$82.7 million); its revenues for the first 10 months, however, were up 13.4% to NT$28.86 billion (US$962.1 million).

Sanyang Industry Co., Ltd., the local assembler of Hyundai cars, reported October revenues of NT$2.81 billion (US$93.7 million), up 7.1% YoY, and 10-month revenues of NT$30.95 billion (US$1.03 billion), up 10.8%.

Hotai Motor Co., Ltd., which sells Toyota and Lexus cars and is has been the No. 1 auto vendor in Taiwan for 12 years in a row, registered October revenues of NT$13.93 billion (US$464.47 million), up 3.24% YoY, and January-October revenues of NT$132.35 billion (US$4.41 billion), up 10%.