MANILA, Philippines — The official distributor of South Korean vehicle brand Hyundai sustained its sales growth in the first half, posting a 9.1 percent growth over the same period last year, driven mainly by demand seen in the light commercial vehicle (LCV) and CV segments.
In a statement, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) said it sold 17,654 units in the January to June period, up from 16,181 units in the same period a year ago.
As of end-June, HARI’s LCV sales grew 50.2 percent to 7,690 units from the previous year’s 5,119 units.
HARI attributes its strong LCV sales to the Kona, Santa Fe and H100.
HARI’s CV sales for the first semester also jumped 125.9 percent to 506 units from 224 units last year.
Meanwhile, passenger car (PC) sales were still down by 12.7 percent to 9,458 units in the January to June period from 10,838 units a year ago.
In June alone, HARI’s total sales declined slightly to 2,868 units from the previous year’s 2,877 units.
HARI’s LCV sales in June were up 17.7 percent to 1,292 units from 1,098 units last year.
The firm’s CV sales also increased 42 percent to 71 units in June from 50 units a year ago.
PC sales, on the other hand, slid 13 percent to 1,505 units in June from the previous year’s 1,729 units.
Given the latest sales performance, HARI is optimistic the company would be able to reverse last year’s decline.
“We are invigorated to note that our sales performance is still better than industry, which is showing a minor increase, after recovering from a tepid 2018. Despite this flat growth in June, we believe that auto sales will continue to get better in the coming months buoyed by higher infrastructure spending, lower inflation, and increased consumer confidence,” HARI president and chief executive officer Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said.
Like most automotive industry players in the country, HARI saw its sales decline by six percent to 35,401 units last year from 37,678 units in 2017, as higher taxes imposed on automobiles under the government’s tax reform program affected demand for cars.
Agudo earlier said HARI is looking to sell 40,000 to 45,000 vehicles this year.
As the automotive industry is preparing for the future, HARI is also playing a role through the rollout of hybrid or electric vehicles (EV) in the country.
HARI has earlier introduced hybrid vehicle Hyundai Ioniq which retails for P1.548 million.
Last April, HARI also launched the Hyundai Kona EV, the first commercially available fully EV in the country.
“Already, the Philippines and South Korea are working to forge a bilateral free trade agreement that will pave the way for increased market access, including automotive products. On our part, we continue to work closely with industry and government partners to help create an environment that will spur the development of the country’s EV industry,” Agudo said.