January car sales below estimate; February figure could fall further

Taipei, Feb. 2 (CNA) Car sales in Taiwan fell nearly 26 percent in January from December to about 35,000 units, missing market expectations as analysts cited caution amid uncertainty over tariff policy on U.S. auto imports.

Analysts said sales could decline further in February due to the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday and the extended Feb. 28 holiday weekend, which will reduce the number of working days and could see sales volume fall to around 26,000 units.

In Taiwan, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications records a sale as happening on the day a car is delivered and given a license plate, rather than when the sales contract is signed.

Data compiled by the local auto industry showed car sales in January stood at 35,073 units, down 25.9 percent from a month earlier but up slightly from 35,064 units over the same period of last year.

The January figure was also below earlier market expectations of about 43,000 units as analysts said although the United States agreed to cut tariffs on Taiwanese goods from 20 percent to 15 percent in mid-January, Taiwan's import tariffs on American autos have not been decided, leading many potential car buyers to put their purchase plans on hold.

The tariff policy offset the benefits resulting from car vendors' aggressive promotional campaigns and a cut in commodity taxes by the government, analysts said.

In January, Hotai Motor Co., the sales agent for Toyota and Lexus in Taiwan, remained the largest car vendor in Taiwan, with combined Toyota and Lexus sales totaling 14,787 units and accounting for a 42.2 percent share of the local auto market, down from 46.6 percent in January 2025.

Hotai Motor said sales of Toyota and Lexus cars in February is forecast to hit 8,000 units, or about a 30.8 percent share of the local auto market.

The data showed sales of imported cars in Taiwan plunged 41.3 percent in January from a month earlier to 14,561 units, and the January figure was also 12.2 percent lower than a year earlier.

In addition, sales of luxury cars for January also dipped 44.7 percent from a month earlier and dropped 26.1 percent from a year earlier to 7,234 units, the data indicated.