Hyundai vehicles sales in PH down due to TRAIN
Hyundai cars continued to sell less in April, posting a 7-percent drop in sales from the same month last year due to the “minute impact” of the TRAIN law, a company official said.
Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (Hari), the official distributor of Hyundai cars in the country, said it had sold 2,345 units of vehicles in April, less than the 2,521 units sold in April 2017.
This reflects a bigger decline compared to the 6 percent posted in March year-on-year. In the first four months of the year, the company sold 11,076 units, down 2.5 percent from 11,362 units in the comparative period last year.
In a statement on Thursday, Hari president and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said the latest figures showed that the Hyundai brand could get past any uncertainties in the industry.
“The minute impact of the TRAIN Law in the sale of Hyundai vehicles only shows the capacity of the brand in weathering any uncertainties in the auto industry,” she said.
“Automotive consumers remain responsive and the brand would continue to satisfy them with its line-up of best-in-class products and services,” she added.
The prospects of the car industry in general have been dampened by the TRAIN law, the Duterte administration’s first comprehensive tax package which took effect January this year.
The tax reform law lowered the personal income tax but imposed higher consumption taxes on goods such as sugary drinks and automobiles.
In Hyundai’s case, the company saw a decline in sales in most categories. The only exception is the year-to-date sales of passenger cars, which managed a growth or 0.7 percent.
Passenger cars sold less in April this year, delivering only 1,606 units compared to the 1,767 units of the same month last year, marking a 9.1 percent drop.
Sales of light commercial vehicles slid 2 percent in April to 739 units from 754 units, previously. Moreover, this segment’s sales dropped 9.5 percent in the first four months of the year to 3,265 units from 3,609 units previously.
