Looking forward to seizing the new business opportunity of ECFA - the impression of Taiwan's auto industry

Motorcycle on the road "Army."

On the eve of the signing of the "Economic Framework Agreement on the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation" (ECFA), reporters have the opportunity to leap over the beautiful Taiwan Strait and land at the Taipei Taoyuan Airport, with more than ever curiosity and inquiries about the desire to explore the car on the motherland's treasure island. The industry rushed.

Moving from the airport to the city, the reporter quickly got an intuitive impression of Taiwan’s auto industry: the road is not wide, and the two-way and four-lane lanes are extravagant, but the traffic order is very good; on the face of the vehicle seen, Japanese symbols are almost all hung. Toyota has the most; at each intersection, the green light comes on. It's not the car that roars and catches the eye. It's a motorcycle.

â–  The impression of a small island market was confirmed by the Taiwanese Chinese Motor Company.

According to reports, the current six major brands of Taiwanese domestic cars are Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Honda (HONDA-TW), Ford and Mazda, and Japanese cars dominate. China Motors is a joint venture between Taiwan Yulon Group and Mitsubishi Motors of Japan. It mainly manufactures Mitsubishi cars. Unlike other companies, Yulon accounts for the bulk of China Motors' shares, so Yankai Tai, chairman and general manager of China Motors, is regarded as a Taiwanese car. The industry's "big boss." In the 12 years from 1997 to 2009, China Motors has been ranked among the top two cars in the island. In 2009, China Automotive sales accounted for 15.9% of Taiwan's total automobile sales and 20.2% of island-produced automobile sales.

For car reporters from the mainland, even if they are runners-up, it still feels like the sales volume is “shockingly small” because last year Taiwan’s overall car sales were only 294,000, which is still the result of a year-on-year increase of nearly 30%. In contrast, hot selling of motorcycles is a major feature of Taiwan. Taiwan has a population of 23 million. As of September 2009, the number of motorcycles has exceeded 14.4 million, and the per capita possession and the number of road bikes per kilometer are the highest in Asia.

It can be seen that if one word sums up the automotive industry in Taiwan, it is "small." This aspect is related to the landforms on the island, which are mostly mountainous. On the one hand, it is also related to the narrow roads in the major cities on the island and the shortage of parking spaces. Huang Zhongzhou, vice president of China Automotive, told reporters: “The annual sales volume of Taiwan's auto market should have been 450,000, but now 1.5 million people are stationed in the mainland, of which 1 million people will drive. If it takes 10 years to change trains, this As a result, Taiwan will sell less than 100,000 cars a year, and if it changes its cars in 1978, it will sell 150,000 fewer vehicles a year."