Taiwan Full Year 2018: Toyota (-10%) weak, Honda (+14%), Lexus (+23%) and VW (+18%) sturdy in declining market

Honda CR-V sales soar 65% in 2018 in Taiwan.

Check out 14 years worth of Taiwanese Historical Data here

New car sales in Taiwan drop 2.1% year-on-year in 2018 to 435.135 registrations, their lowest level since 2015 (420.780). Brand leader Toyota (-10%), albeit still comfortably in the lead with more than twice the sales of the #2, continues to lose market share at 23.7%, two percentage points below its 2017 level and its lowest since 2004. Below Mitsubishi/CMC (+2%) leaping to 11.3% share, Honda (+18%) records a second consecutive year of double–digit gains and overtakes Nissan/Infiniti (-14%) to climb onto the annual podium. Below, Mercedes (+4%) and Mazda (+6%) both post solid results while Lexus (+23%) is the biggest gainer in the Top 10, up three spots on 2017 to #7 and Volkswagen (+18%) replaces dwindling local Luxgen (-37%) inside the annual Top 10.

The all-new UX (#37 in December) helps Lexus up 24% in 2018.

The Toyota Corolla remains the most popular vehicle in Taiwan for at least the 14th consecutive year but takes a big hit in 2018: -30% to just 6.4% share vs. 9% in 2017. The Toyota RAV4 (-16%) also plunges but stays #2 while the Honda CR-V soars 65% and 5 spots to land on the third step of the podium above the Toyota Sienna (+8%), CMC Veryca (+7%) and Toyota Yaris (+6%). Other great performers include the Mazda CX-5 (+89%), Toyota C-HR (+86%), Lexus NX (+82%), VW Tiguan (+71%), Mercedes GLC (+30%) and Suzuki Swift (#30). Three 2018 launches make their way into the Top 50: the Nissan Kicks at #41 thanks to just two months of sales and a fantastic 4th place in December, the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross at #47 (peaking at #35 in January) and the Toyota Auris aka the new generation Corolla hatch at #49 (peaking at #15 in September).

Previous month: Taiwan November 2018: Nissan Kicks and Lexus UX land in market down 10.9%

Previous year: Taiwan Full Year 2017: Toyota and Corolla lead, Honda up 25%

Two years ago: Taiwan Full Year 2016: Toyota Corolla, Yaris & RAV4 reign, CMC Veryca up

Full Year 2018 Top 10 brands and Top 50 models vs. Full Year 2017 figures below.

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