A tale of two car brands for Tan Chong in Singapore

IT IS a tale of two Japanese brands of Tan Chong International in Singapore, with Nissan doing very well and Subaru rather badly.

The Hong Kong-listed car distributor revealed in its 2023 interim report published on the Singapore Exchange on Thursday (Sep 14) that Nissan did not suffer a decline in sales volume in Singapore in the first half of 2023.

This was mainly due to the “growing popularity” and expanding line-up of its electrified e-Power range, which saw a 24 per cent year-on-year rise in sales volume and made up two-thirds of Nissan sales in the first half of 2023, the company said.

This was despite a 19 per cent year-on-year drop in total industry volume being clocked in the Republic. Fewer cars were sold during the period, as buyers had to contend with a low supply of certificates of entitlement (COEs) amid skyrocketing COE premiums.

Tan Chong added: “This improved performance has placed Nissan as the... fifth best-selling passenger car brand in Singapore. It was also the only brand among the top five that did not suffer (a) year-on-year decline.”

Tan Chong owns Motor Image, which distributes Subaru vehicles in South-east Asia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China, as well as Tan Chong Motor, the distributor of Nissan vehicles in Singapore.

In contrast, Subaru’s Singapore sales volume saw a 5 per cent drop, with Tan Chong noting that the Japanese brand continues to face challenges from the tight supply of COEs.

The Business Times reported earlier that Toyota was the top-selling car brand in Singapore for the first half of 2023, with German luxury brands Mercedes-Benz and BMW rounding out the top three. Toyota passenger car registrations totalled 2,867, Mercedes-Benz registered 2,229 units, and BMW recorded 1,690 units.

Mainstream East Asian brands made up the bulk of the top 10 brands, with Honda (568), Nissan (568) and Mazda (468) taking fourth to sixth places, respectively. South Korean brands Kia (423) and Hyundai (333) were seventh and 10th, respectively.

Tan Chong expects total industry volume in the Republic to increase in the second half of the year, in tandem with a larger crop of COEs.

Elsewhere, it was a mixed bag for Subaru.

Thailand and Taiwan both registered increases for Tan Chong – 60 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively – with sales volume in Taiwan outstripping the industry volume increase of 16 per cent there.

The stabilisation of inventory supply, as well as the introduction of the refreshed Subaru Evoltis, new Subaru WRX and WRX wagon, helped to raise sales numbers by 122 per cent in the Philippines.

In contrast, there were declines in sales numbers for the other geographies, ranging from 5 per cent (Hong Kong) to 41 per cent (Malaysia).

Tan Chong said only Subaru faced major price competition in the mainland Chinese automotive market, without giving details on the sales volume for the brand. It, however, added that diversification into multi-brand dealerships proved “rewarding”, with a 9 per cent improvement year on year.

Tan Chong, which also generates revenue from the rendering of services, posted a 12.9 per cent year-on-year improvement in revenue for the six months to June at HK$7.3 billion (S$1.3 billion), from HK$6.5 billion for the corresponding period in the preceding year.

Singapore’s contribution jumped 73.9 per cent to S$909.5 million, and accounted for 12.4 per cent of Tan Chong’s total revenue. In comparison, Singapore’s share accounted for only 8.1 per cent for the January-June 2022 period.

The counter last traded on Sep 7 with a closing price of HK$1.66.