Press Release –
Taiwan’s first and only motorcycle fair to date, the 2006 Taiwan International Motorcycle Industry Show (Motorcycle Taiwan 2006), will be held from Oct. 27 to 29 at Exhibition Hall 3 of the Taipei World Trade Center (TWTC), with about 140 exhibitors (including companies from the U.S., Pakistan, and India) using around 300 booths to showcase their latest products.
An international industry forum will also focus on several of the hottest themes in the line, according to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the show’s organizer.
According to TAITRA, Motorcycle Taiwan 2006 will the first such event in Taiwan and the world’s only exhibition to bring exhibitors from throughout the motorcycle industry together. Major exhibition themes at Motorcycle Taiwan 2006 will include complete vehicles (motorcycles, scooters, ATVs, electric scooters, and electric bicycles), engines and engine parts, vehicle frames, accessories, riding accessories, vehicle testing and inspection equipment, and noise and emissions testing equipment.
The council stresses that it is organizing the show with four major themes, including “Showcasing the Capability of ‘Made by Taiwan,'” “Motorcycle Design and Innovation,” “ATV Trends,” and “Tuning and Performance Enhancing Parts.”
Mario Tsai, manager of Exhibition Section 1 under TAITRA’s Exhibition Department, points out that in addition to the abundant products on view at the show, a series of seminars on ATV and PTW design will provide another focus of the first-annual event.
TAITRA will invite key men in the North American PTW industry to give keynote speeches on development trends in the ATV industry. European industry experts will talk about PTW-related topics such as European PTW design trends and Taiwan manufacturers’ niches, PTW styling and mechanical designs, futuristic PTW designs, and PTW color trends.
The series of seminars and panel discussions are expected to enhance the interactions between industry experts in major motorcycle-manufacturing nations and markets and local companies, and will also provide the latest market information to interested players in the line, Tsai explains.
At Motorcycle Taiwan 2006, Tsai went on to say, there will be a special zone dubbed the “Cross-strait Motorcycle Industry Show,” (informally known as the China Pavilion) to enable companies in mainland China to introduce their products to the world at about 50 booths.
To promote the first international fair on the island, TAITRA has commissioned its 40 overseas branches around the world to invite major global buyers to participate in the show, Tsai says. In addition, all big international motorcycle brands will demonstrate their latest products at the event.
Thanks to the strong support and sponsorship of the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Tsai says, TAITRA initiated and planned the first motorcycle show in Taiwan with an eye toward the future development of Taiwan’s increasingly strong motorcycle industry.
According to the section chief, there are many positive signs in the local motorcycle industry indicating that Taiwan is becoming an increasingly vital development and manufacturing base for exported, high-level PTWs and ATVs. Taiwan’s declining domestic PTW sales volume (currently about 700,000 units per year, dropping from the previous peak of about one million) has driven local complete-vehicle and parts makers to more aggressively develop international sales. The export volume of Taiwan-made PTWs and ATVs outstripped domestic sales for the first time in 2004. In addition, the high price of oil is making motorcycles more attractive than cars for many buyers.
More importantly, Tsai analyzes, many major complete-vehicle and engine makers in Taiwan have been actively developing large-displacement engines (up to 700cc) and have achieved fruitful results. These engines are used in utility vehicles (UTVs), powerful ATVs, and golf carts, in addition to traditional scooters and motorcycles. At the same time, the motorcycle industry has been developing into a sector that make products not only for transportation purposes, but also for utility, agricultural, and recreational uses.
According to Tsai, another positive trend for Taiwan makers of PTWs, ATVs, and related products is that the expanding global motorcycle market is expected to generate an annual demand for about 40.9 million units by 2009, up sharply from about 32.9 million in 2003.
More and more Taiwanese motorcycle brands, such as KYMCO (Kwang Yang Motor Co., Ltd.), SYM (Sanyang Industry Co., Ltd.), and Adly (Her Chee Industrial Co., Ltd.) are gaining solid footholds on the global stage. A positive benefit of the rise of these domestic companies is an expanding aftermarket (AM) for replacement parts, performance-tuning parts, and accessories for their products.
