Taipei, Nov. 17 (CNA) The production value of Taiwan's finished vehicles is expected to show a 13.2 percent growth this year thanks to brisk sales in the domestic automobile market, according to a report released Thursday by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).
Although vehicle production in the first half of this year was affected by a supply chain interruption following the March 11 earthquake in Japan, automobile sales in Taiwan nevertheless increased 16 percent from the same period of last year, an obvious sign of recovery in the auto market, the report said.
With the supply chain returning to normal in the third quarter, the production value of automobiles increased 24.8 percent from the second quarter. In the fourth quarter, the production value will likely jump 4.5 percent from the previous quarter to NT$51.47 billion. Automobile output value for the whole year is expected to reach NT$186.9 billion, up 13.2 percent from 2010.
Driven by robust finished automobile production, the output of vehicle parts and components is projected to increase 6.4 percent to NT$187 billion. Meanwhile, the production value of motorcycles is likely to climb 16.9 percent to NT$48.88 billion on the back of export growth, while that of electric scooters may soar 115 percent to NT$660 million owing to a government subsidy program.