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Luxury car market growth is symbolic of Taiwan's economic boom

Annabelle Shu, Taichung; Charlene Chen, DIGITIMES Asia 0

Credit: DIGITIMES

At Maserati's launch event for the GranCabrio Trofeo in Taichung, John Huang, chairman of Modena Motori Taiwan, stated that Taiwan's economic boom in recent years can be seen from its luxury car delivery performance. Modena Motori Taiwan has also played an important role in expanding local market share for Ferrari and Maserati.

He stressed that making sufficient pre-investments is important for every industry and why brands are impressed by the Taiwanese market.

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna regularly visits Taiwan personally. As a former senior executive at STMicroelectronics (STM), Vigna and Taiwan's chipmaking industry may be regarded as long-standing acquaintances.

The global chip shortage gave rise to numerous Taiwanese tech tycoons. As a result, luxury cars are in high demand in the Taiwanese market. For example, Ferrari sales doubled from 2019 to 2023, a significantly higher demand growth rate than that of China and Hong Kong.

According to the number of registered vehicles in August 2024, there were 13 Bentley units, 10 Rolls-Royce units, 1,761 Mercedes-Benz units, 1,203 BMW units, 325 Porsche units, 1,586 Lexus units, 17 Maserati units, 5 Aston Martin units, 7 Lamborghini units, and 1 Lotus unit.

Growth in the luxury car market is not just representative of economic performance. Taiwan-based suppliers have also taken on key roles, such as SuperAlloy Industrial (SAI).

SAI mentioned that with the upcoming production of new models, it is likely that overall business would improve significantly. Additionally, SAI received an approval notice from Rolls-Royce in the second quarter of 2024, the 7th brand customer to use its service.

About John Huang

Huang is the former chairman of the world's second-largest foundry for digital cameras, Premier Technology, founded in 1983. Premier mainly focused on OEM and ODM services for optical products and entered the market with its own brand. In July 2006, Premier merged with Foxconn, and Huang became the general manager of Foxconn's mechanical and optoelectronics department.

After leaving Foxconn, Huang began investing in areas including travel, tourism, and luxury car OEM. For example, Ferrari and Maserati are represented by Modena Motori Taiwan and was a joint venture between Huang and Kelti president Wu-kang Chen.