According to Focus Taiwan, the Taipei International Auto Show, a biennial auto exhibition popular with Taiwanese consumers, opened Saturday, December 28, with U.S.-based electric car brand Tesla making its first-ever appearance at the event.
Source: tainex1
Tesla, one of 34 car brands participating in the show, is displaying the Model 3 as well as predecessors Model S and Model X at a time when it has begun making inroads into Taiwan's market.
Since the Model 3 went on sale in Taiwan in mid-August at a starting price of about NT$1.6 million (US$52,980), almost 2,500 units have been sold, Tesla said.
According to the company, sales have risen from month to month, growing from 331 units in September to 500 in October and November and to 1,000 in the first 27 days of December.
Data compiled by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) showed sales of 1,581 electric cars in Taiwan in the first 11 months of 2019, with Tesla accounting for more than 60 percent.
Taiwanese Tesla owners already set new record:
Video from Taiwan mainstream TV channel TVBS:
— Vincent (@vincent13031925) September 29, 2019
TOC Taiwan @TeslaOwnersTwn organized 100 Tesla cars driving all together with Autopilot, and the previous world record was 55. @elonmusk @tesla #Tesla #Taiwan https://t.co/OnFU8klUpm pic.twitter.com/zR8y6SoGPx
New supercharging location in Chiayi is now officially opened!@tesla @elonmusk @TeslaOwnersTwn #teslaownerstaiwan pic.twitter.com/6zf66GPPbO
— Tesla Owners Taiwan (@TeslaOwnersTwn) December 28, 2019
The MOTC figures are lower than Tesla's figures because the government counts a sale only when a car is delivered and given a license plate rather than when a sales contract is signed.
Tesla Taiwan President Chan Yi-wan (詹依宛) said Friday she was upbeat about Taiwan's potential and that Tesla will build more charging stations in Taiwan next year to boost the number to 25, from the current 14.
Two new charging stations are planned for the Hsinchu high-speed rail station in January, and others will be built in Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Yilan, Chan said.
They will use the company's new Supercharger V3 technology, which is able to deliver a new 250 kW of peak power, giving the Model 3 enough juice to run about 150 kilometers on just a five-minute charge.
The 34 car brands introduced are displaying more than 300 new models at the show, which runs until Jan. 5 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.
Featured image: CNA
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Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
