The official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the country saw its sales grow for the first time in nearly a year, showing cracks of light at the end of the tunnel.
Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (Hari) sold 3,578 units in October, 9.6-percent higher than the same month last year, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
In the first 10 months of the year, however, company sales dropped 5.5 percent, as the decline tempered by favorable figures from its light commercial vehicle vehicle (LCV) segment.
“Last October’s performance only reflects that the performance of the automotive industry is beginning to normalize. Our growth outlook remains to be upbeat for the remainder of the year,” said Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo, Hari president and CEO.
This develops amid higher excise taxes and the high inflation, which dampened consumer appetite for new vehicles.
Much of the growth could be traced to the LCV segment. For October alone, the segment grew 79.9 percent to 2,074 units.
This countered the 28.8-percent drop in sales for the passenger car segment year-on-year to 1,504 units.