Central News Agency (Taipei) - Hotai Motor Co., the Taiwanese sales agent for Japan's Toyota Motor, remained the top auto vendor in Taiwan in October with a 36.2 percent market share, its highest since Toyota's supply chain was disrupted by a massive tsunami in Japan in March. The car dealer said Toyota's assembly line in Taiwan had put behind it supply chain interruptions caused by the natural disaster, having returned to pre-disaster levels of production in June. Hotai said Tuesday it sold about 11,303 cars in October, up 35.8 percent from a year earlier and up 2.3 percent from a month earlier. It was the fifth consecutive month Hotai Motor had the highest market share among local car vendors, the company said.

Car sales in Taiwan in October reached 31,265 units, up 9.1 percent from a year earlier but down 4.09 percent from the previous month. Following Hotai Motor were China Motor, with sales of 3,987 units for a 12.8 percent market share, and Yulon Nissan Motor, with sales of 3,620 units for an 11.6 percent share. Hotai Motor said that because demand in the local auto market remained strong, it expected vehicle sales to reach no fewer than 11,000 units in November. In the first 10 months of this year, total car sales in Taiwan rose 19.3 percent from a year earlier to 314,970 units. Market analysts predicted that sales for all of 2011 would reach about 370,000 as car makers are planning to unveil new models before the end of the year.