Taiwan Full Year 2014: Toyota Corolla leads, Luxgen shines

Toyota Corolla

* See the Top 10 best-selling brands and Top 50 models by clicking on the title *

Very dynamic marketplace in Taiwan with new car sales up 12% on 2013 to 423,829 registrations, the first time Taiwanese consumers purchase more than 400,000 new vehicles in a single since 2005 when the market topped 510,000 units. Toyota keeps the lead of the brands ranking but slips just under 30% share at 29.7% because of sales up ‘only’ 8% on 2013. Nissan and Mitsubishi follow like in 2013 while Ford overtakes Honda for just 104 units to #4 and both Mercedes (+15%) and BMW (+17%) outperform the market. But the star manufacturer in Taiwan this year is local brand Luxgen storming into the Top 10 at #8 thanks to sales up 129% to a record 16,687.

Toyota RAV4

Model-wise, no surprises on top: the Toyota Corolla reigns supreme and even improves its market share to 10.6% thanks to the new model and sales up 21%. Below the Corolla’s overwhelming position, the Taiwanese market fragments further this year: while in 2013 there were 3 additional nameplates above 4% share, in 2014 there are none and the monthly #2 spot was held by successive new launches du jour. The Toyota RAV4, #2 in May and December, sees its regularity rewarded by the annual #2 spot, up from #4 in 2013. The Nissan Tiida, #2 in February and June, follows with the Toyota Wish, #2 in March and in 2013, falls down to #4.

Toyota Yaris

The success story of late 2013, the Nissan Sentra is up fourfold on 2013 to finish its first full year in market at an excellent 5th position with 13,318 deliveries. It ranked #2 in January but struggled to reach the podium for the remainder of the year. The Toyota Yaris (#6) and Vios (#7) were completely overhauled halfway through the year to great success: the Vios ranked #2 in May, July and August as the Yaris took the relay at #2 in September, October and November.

The Luxgen U6 Turbo ranked #3 in January.

Illustrating the record year of local manufacturer Luxgen, the U6 Turbo landed with a big splash in January directly to #3 with 5% share and is the best-selling all-new model of 2014 in Taiwan, ending the year at #12 with 10,443 sales, with the U7 Turbo at #46 and the S5 Turbo at #47. Notice also the Ford Kuga more than doubling its sales year-on-year and up 20 spots to #19, the Hyundai Santa Fe up to #27, the Subaru Forester up to #29 and the Ford Ecosport climbing its way into the Top 50 for its first full year of sales.

Previous month: Taiwan November 2014: Toyota Corolla and Yaris on top

One year ago: Taiwan Full Year 2013: Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V storm into Top 5

Two years ago: Taiwan Full Year 2012: Toyota Corolla and Camry on top

Full Year 2014 Top 10 brands and Top 50 models vs. Full 2013 figures below.

Full December 2014 Top 10 brands and Top 50 models below.