TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan registered 45,678 new cars in July, the highest number in a single month since January 2021, reports said Thursday (Aug. 1).

For the first time in three months, the proportion of imported cars fell below half to 46.5% for July, per CNA. Forecasts for August set the number of cars likely to be sold at 29,000, a lower amount because of the start of “Ghost Month” on Aug. 4, when consumers are expected to be reluctant to make major purchases.

The July total marks a 9.8% increase over the 41,587 cars registered in June, and a rise of 7.8% from the 42,359 vehicles registered in July 2023. The previous single-month high was reached in January 2021, when 51,179 new cars were sold.

As on previous occasions, Toyota obtained the largest market share in July, with 29.9%, including the bestselling car model, the Toyota Corolla Cross SUV. With the addition of its luxury brand Lexus, the two held a share of 37.2%, an increase of 2.9% from June 2023.

Tesla and MG dropped out of the top 10 bestselling brands, while the Luxgen n7, an electric vehicle developed by the Yulon Group in cooperation with Foxconn Technology Group, sold more than 1,000 cars in July for the fourth month in a row.