Hyundai sales fall by 5% in January 2019

MANILA, Philippines — Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the country, posted a five percent drop in sales in January as sales of its passenger cars remained weak.

In a statement, HARI said it sold a total of 2,758 vehicles for the first month of 2019, also a 6.7 percent dip month-on-month.

The decline was mainly caused a 29.1 percent drop in sales of its passenger car (PC) lineup to 1,443 units by from 2,036 units in the same period last year as the segment is on a transition phase.

However, HARI said the release of the new accent model buoyed the segment to maintain a consistent demand for the brand’s popular sedans.

“It will be expected that sales of Hyundai passenger cars will eventually grow in the coming months, counting on the recent launch of the Reina,” HARI said.

In contrast, sales in the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment jumped 51.7 percent to 1,315 units from 867 units in January last year.

“The addition of the Kona and the heightened demand for the H-100 has bolstered the segment’s performance,” the company said.

Despite the overall drop in sales in January, HARI president and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo expressed an optimistic outlook for the Philippine automotive industry as macroeconomic headwinds begin to ease.

“Hyundai stands resolute as it brings in new and market-leading products to take advantage of the opportunities laid out in 2019,” she said.

HARI acknowledged that the macroeconomic performance of the previous year has left the market cautious in purchasing big ticket items such as cars.

“However, this is expected to subside as the economy will improve on the back of sustained government spending and increasing investments in the government’s infrastructure program,” HARI said.

It added that this is supported by positive sentiments from the market as inflation begins to ease,dropping to 4.4 percent in January 2019, the effects of TRAIN slowly dissipating, and the BSP expected to loosen its monetary stance.