Taiwan September 2018: Toyota Auris lands, hurts Corolla in market down 1.8%

Will the new Toyota Auris topple the Corolla atop the Taiwanese sales charts?

* See the Top 10 best-selling brands and Top 80 models by clicking on the title *

New car sales in Taiwan reduce their fall from a ghastly -28.8% in August due to national holidays falling at a different time this year to – 1.8% in September at 30.799 units, leading to a year-to-date volume down 1.1% to 322.784. Brand leader Toyota (-8%) falls faster than the market to 19.7% share vs. 23.8% so far this year with Honda (-4%) also weak but Mitsubishi (+12%) and Nissan (+10%) post strong results in the Top 4. Lexus (+68%) and Volkswagen (+47%) are by far the most dynamic Top 10 brands this month with BMW (-24%) and Mazda (-20%) hit hard and Luxgen (-64%) in dire straits again. The Taiwanese models ranking may be on the verge of a major shakeup as the Toyota Corolla (-23%) now has to deal with the arrival of a new hatchback variant baptised Auris landing directly at #15 with 1.6% share this month. It’s ironic that Toyota Taiwan has chosen to name this vehicle Auris in complete opposition to Europe where that exact nameplate was discontinued after 12 years in favour of a return to “Corolla”. The CMC Veryca (+36%) leaps up to an outstanding 2nd place, distancing an SUV pack composed of the Honda CR-V (-1%), Toyota RAV4 (-23%) and Honda HR-V (-21%). Excellent scores for the Mercedes GLC (+50%) up to #8, Nissan X-Trail (+65%), VW Tiguan (+260%) and Lexus NX (+211%).

Previous month: Taiwan August 2018: Mazda, Volkswagen defy market down 28.8%

One year ago: Taiwan September 2017: Honda CR-V on podium, Luxgen U5 lands

Full September 2018 Top 10 brands and Top 80 models below.