In its 10th year, Hyundai sustains amazing growth

2011 marks the 10th year of  Hyundai’s amazing growth in the Philippine automotive industry. Starting with only five dealers in 2001, when it was appointed exclusive distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the PH, Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI) now has 39 strategically located  dealerships across the nation and has sustained its ranking, achieved in 2010, as No. 3 in over-all industry sales.

TWO LAUNCHES The Elantra launched in grand style in Manila (above) and for Asian journalists in Seoul, Korea (below).

That a Korean brand could rise to the Top Three in an industry dominated by Japanese marques set a precedent and affirmed HARI’s management capabilities and marketing skill. Reviewing the year that is about to end, HARI president and CEO Ma. Fe Perez Agudo said that the company was able to pursue its business strategy of sustained growth and customer satisfaction in four ways: by offering a portfolio of multi-awarded and globally competitive products, maintaining a resilient and innovative work force, establishing an expansive and fast-growing dealership network and striving for customer-focused service excellence.

HARI was the first auto distributor in the PH to offer the five-year New Vehicle Limited Warranty or 100,000 kilometers program, whichever comes first. It was also the first to provide a car loyalty program called the One Hyundai Club that entitles new and existing Hyundai vehicle owners to a range of privileges and rewards.

This year, HARI was included in Business World’s Top 100 Philippine Corporations due to its revenue growth, and was named to Makati’s Top Corporate Citizens for its fiscal contribution. Agudo, meanwhile, won the Ernst and Young Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Prestigious

In June 2011, at the Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) Global Distributors Convention in Bariff, Canada participated in by 185 countries, Agudo received on behalf of HARI the prestigious Global Distributor of the Year title for outstanding sales and overall distributorship excellence in 2010, when HARI sales breached 20,000 units and soared by 82 percent from its 2009 sales. This award was preceded by the Asia-Pacific Distributor of the Year Award from HMC three times: in 2005, 2006 and 2008.

AGUDO with the PDI chair Marixi Prieto during the HARI CSR Christmas Event

Surpassing the 20,000-unit mark is a tough act to follow, given the supply availability problem HARI faced this year because of global demand outstripping production.  Globally, Hyundai sold 3.68 million units in the first 11 months, up by 11.4 percent from the same period in 2010.  Nonetheless, HARI sold a total of 18,922 units from January to November 2011, growing 1.2 percent from 18,696 units sold in the same period last year.  Agudo expects HARI to close the year with flat to 2.0 percent growth, maintaining Hyundai’s No. 3 rank in overall industry sales with a market share of 12.4 percent.

In January this year, HARI began retailing the all-new Accent subcompact passenger car (PC).  By November, the Accent had achieved No. 3 in volume sales, cornering 15 percent market share of the subcompact PC segment.  The all-new Elantra, launched last May, had captured 18 percent of the compact PC segment by November.

First to offer

HARI gained major market share by being the first to offer to consumers a wide range of automobile options in both gasoline and common rail direct injection (CRDi) VGT (Variable Geometry Turbo) diesel variants.  Aside from the fluidic-sculptured Accent and Elantra, HARI dealers retail at present the i10 and Getz minicars, the i30, the midsize Sonata and Azera sedans, Tucson compact SUV, Santa Fe midsize SUV, Genesis luxury sedan and sports coupe, H-100 coaster and the Grand Starex, the first Hyundai model to capture the fancy of minivan-riding Filipino families.  Hyundai’s CRDi diesel engine technology, introduced in the first generation Starex in 2001, was soon made available in the Accent, Matrix, Tucson, Santa Fe and Veracruz.

HARI’s 39 dealerships play a big role in Hyundai’s success in the Philippines. In 2011, HARI inaugurated four new dealerships (Greenhills, North Edsa, San Pablo, Laguna and Tarlac City) and re-launched five others with Hyundai’s new global corporate showrooms and workshops. HARI also refreshed Hyundai’s presence at Commonwealth Avenue, Las Piñas, Biñan-Laguna, Iloilo and Davao via Hyundai’s DEP2 (Dealer Enhancement Program 2).

Corporate social responsibility

Giving back to the communities where it operates, HARI outdid itself with three big Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects this year. In terms of the Environment and Health, HARI organized the Hyundai RUN for a Cause that attracted almost 28,000 runners to support Responsibility, Unity and Nation-building (RUN). HARI also launched the Gawad Kalinga Green Enterprise Center and built the Catarman Maternity Hospital for St. Scholastica’s Priory (Agudo is an alumna of St. Scholastica’s College in Manila).

In the field of Heritage and Culture, HARI supported the renovation of Rizal Park that included the revival of the Flower Clock and the installation of Ang Bagong Pinoy sculpture.

Approaching the year-end holiday season, HARI organized a Christmas fund-raising campaign for Gawad Kalinga, Haribon, Habitat for Humanity, KIDS Foundation, SOS Children’s Village, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, GMA Kapuso Foundation and Philippine Daily Inquirer Foundation.

Summing up the year 2011 in a nutshell, Agudo said that HARI sustained its sales volume against global and domestic uncertainties, achieved significant milestones in its advocacies and CSR initiatives, and increased and improved customer relations via its One Hyundai Club program…thereby positioning Hyundai to reach greater heights in 2012.