Hyundai sales jump 29% in August

MANILA, Philippines - Sales of the official Philippine distributor of South Korea’s Hyundai vehicles went up 29 percent in August from a year ago due to the strong demand for passenger cars (PC) and light commercial vehicles (LCV).

Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) said in a statement yesterday its total vehicle sales reached 1,877 units in August, higher than the 1,454 units sold in the same month last year.

The positive sales performance was due to the strong demand for both PCs and LCVs.

HARI’s PC sales grew 24 percent to 1,261 units in August from the previous year’s 1,014 units.

Contributing significantly to the PC sales performance in August was the 437-percent expansion of Eon sales which reached 499 units compared to 93 units in the same month last year.

LCV sales reached 616 units in August, a 40-percent increase over the 440 units sold in the same month a year ago.

The increase in LCV sales was due to the combined effort of the Santa Fe, Grand Starex and H100.

The firm sold 59 units of the Santa Fe in August compared to just one in the same month last year.

Sales of the Starex jumped 105 percent year-on-year in August.

The firm’s sales of the H100, meanwhile, surged 226 percent to 124 units last month from 38 units in August 2012.

While sales increased in August, HARI saw its total sales decline in the January to August period.

As of end-August, HARI sold 14,713 units, down six percent from the 15,735 units in the comparable period last year.

HARI president and chief executive officer Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said that even as sales for the eight-month period are down from last year’s, the firm is upbeat that its total sales would improve by the end of the year.

“The country’s best in region economic growth in the first-half of the year is yet another confidence booster for the country as the Philippines moves forward towards economic sustainability. Likewise, Hyundai in the Philippines shares this optimism and remains upbeat heading towards the final stretch of 2013,” she said.

HARI sold a total of 21,996 units last year, up eight percent from sales which reached 20,297 units in 2011.