HARI posts 44% car sales hike

MANILA, Philippines - Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) closed the first quarter of the year with a 44-percent growth in car sales because of strong turnover of passenger car models.

HARI sold 6,767 units from January to March, up from 4,712 units sold in the same period last year.

The company said sales of PC models such as the i10, Accent and the Elantra, posted a 127-percent increase for the first three months of the year to 4,297 units sold against 1, 889 units sold in the same period last year.

For the month of March alone, total PC sales rose 159 percent with 1,316 units sold compared to 509 in March 2011. WithPC sales’ notable increase, total Hyundai vehicle sales rose 37 percent to 2, 245 in March 2012 from 1,633 in the same month last year.

“As the Philippine economic landscape continues to move from good to great, so does consumer confidence and Hyundai’s outstanding sales performance for Q1. We are optimistic that this trend will extend into Q2, with the Elantra making waves as Car of the Year for 2012, the launch of the new Hyundai EON, and our consistent brand promotion efforts,” said HARI president and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo.

HARI noted that according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Consumer Expectations Survey, consumer demand is expected to remain strong because of availability of jobs, increases in salary, good governance policies, steadyinvestment inflows, appreciation of the peso and remittances from overseas workers.