As the first day of the 19th Taipei International Auto Show ended on 24th December 2011, car manufacturers were happy to report that they received higher orders than they had expected. The event was successful in attracting as many as 36000 auto enthusiasts on the first day itself, a good sign for the Taiwanese auto industry. It was a great turnout for the show, 30 per cent more than the numbers recorded for the previous show held in 2009.
The organisers believe that this increase in turnout and sales volumes is due to improvements in economic conditions and the depreciation of the Euro. While the former has increased the purchasing power of the masses, the latter has lessened the costs of European cars.
According to Chu Mei-chun, Chief Executive Officer of Mazda Taiwan, the company hopes to sell up to 250-300 orders during the nine days that the event will be held. Buyers have already placed close to 1500 orders for its Mazda 5 that was unveiled in Taiwan last month. This figure represents a huge jump, as the company receives only 800 orders for all its cars in a month. Chu said that the costs of Japanese cars will go up in 2012 and many people ordered cars on the first day itself so that they will not shell out extra bucks when the prices rise.
Reflecting upon customer sentiment, Taiwanese auto company Luxgen said that prospective buyers thronged the area set for purchase talks throughout the day. According to the company, it should be able to break the 2009 sales record of 300 units this year, going by the number of orders it has received so far. The company has put four variants of its latest model, Luxgen 5 sedan, on display at the auto show.
Volkswagen Taiwan had also received 35 orders on the opening day and officials had said that the company's 50 limited edition Golf Variants were also sold on the first day. Due to this demand, the German manufacturer has brought another 50 cars to the event.
Mercedes-Benz also reported a good at the event, having obtained an order for its NT$14.25 million SLS. The German luxury car manufacturer expected to get another 10 orders by the end of the first day itself.
The Auto Show includes close to 200 new models, the highest in the history of the event. 34 domestic and global car manufacturers have taken part in this auto show, which will last till 1st January 2012. Hopefully the trend and buyer sentiment will continue, helping the industry grow.
