Hyundai sales pick up in October 2018

MANILA, Philippines — Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the country, said its sales finally picked up in October after months of decline.

In a statement, HARI said it sold a total of 3,578 units last October, up by 9.6 percent from the 3,266 units in the same month last year.

Driving the growth in HARI’s total sales in October was the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment with sales of 2,074 units this year, 79.9 percent higher than the 1,153 units the previous year.

Sales of passenger cars (PC), meanwhile, declined 28.8 percent to 1,504 units in October this year from 2,113 units a year ago.

HARI said the company’s sales performance is consistent with the overall demand for automotive vehicles in the country.

While total sales in October posted growth year-on-year, HARI’s sales for the January to October period were still lower compared to last year.

In particular, HARI’s total sales reached 29,018 units as of end-October, down 5.5 percent from the 30,717 units a year ago.

LCV sales rose 25.9 percent to 12,155 units as of end-October from 9,652 units last year.

PC sales, on the other hand, decreased 19.9 percent to 16,863 units in the January to October period from the previous year’s 21,065 units.

While sales earlier this year have been affected by the higher tax imposed on vehicles under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law which took effect in January, HARI is upbeat sales would continue to pick up in the last two months of the year given the October performance.

“Last October’s performance only reflects that the performance of the automotive industry is beginning to normalize. Our growth outlook remains to be upbeat for the remainder of the year,” HARI president and chief executive officer Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said.