Hyundai sales grow 17% in April

MANILA, Philippines — The official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the country is on track to reverse its sales decline last year as takeup grew year-on-year for the third consecutive month in April.

Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) said in a statement yesterday it sold 2,795 units in April, 17.4 percent higher than the 2,381 units in the same month last year.

The higher sales were attributed to growth across all segments – passenger car (PC), light commercial vehicle (LCV) and CV.

In particular, HARI’s PC sales inched up by 0.4 percent to reach 1,612 units in April from 1,606 units a year ago, with the Reina as its best-selling model.

The firm’s LCV sales went up 47.5 percent to 1,090 units in April from the previous year’s 739 units, driven by strong demand for the crossover Kona and the H-100.

For the CV segment, HARI saw sales surge 158.3 percent to reach 93 units in April from just 36 units last year.

For the January to April period, HARI’s total sales reached 12,744 units, up 13.5 percent from 11,224 units in the same period a year ago.

HARI registered higher total vehicle sales in the four-month period even as its PC sales were still down by 10.2 percent to 7,016 units from the previous year’s 7,811 units.

HARI’s LCV sales, on the other hand, rose 65.3 percent to 5,396 units as of end-April from 3,265 units last year.

As of end-April, the company’s CV sales jumped 124.3 percent to 332 units from 148 units a year ago.

“Coming from a challenging year, we are delighted to report three straight months of robust growth underpinned by strong sales of our core products, customer experience solutions, and strategic initiatives in place that are now bearing fruit. We have several projects in the pipeline that will further strengthen our existing business, while giving us flexibility as we explore new revenue streams,” HARI president and chief executive officer Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said.

To sustain the growth achieved by the firm, HARI intends to launch new vehicle models, as well as expand dealerships for CVs and Hyundai City Stores.

“We intend to leverage on our strong performance as we gain more momentum. We aim to sell 40,000 Hyundai units by the end of the year and we are confident we can hit this target, especially with new vehicle models that we are launching within the year,” Agudo said.

At present, HARI has 11 CV dealerships which provide sales, service and spare parts to commercial and industrial customers, as well as micro, small and medium enterprises.

HARI’s targets to grow this number further to 20 by next year.

To expand its reach, particularly in urban locations lacking space for a traditional dealership, HARI plans to open more Hyundai City Stores which utilize digital technology to serve customers.

Higher taxes imposed by the government on automobiles last year took a toll on the automotive industry, leading to lower sales.

HARI’s total sales in particular, declined six percent to 35,401 units from 37,678 units in 2017.