Hyundai sales up 8% in 2012; 22k units sold

Hyundai Asia Resources Inc.’s (Hari) passenger cars segment drove the company’s sales growth in 2012, amid consumption-fueled economic expansion.

The Hyundai distributor said Monday it ended 2012 with an 8 percent growth in total sales to 21,996 units sold for the whole year, from 20,297 in 2011.

Hari, the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines, said the passenger car segment boosted sales with 25 percent growth, or 13,382 units sold in 2012 from the 10,700 units sold in the previous year.

The Eon, Hyundai’s newest sub-compact PC model launched in 2012, shoved passenger car sales up to complement the good growth performance of the Accent (16 percent) and Elantra (27 percent).

Sales in December 2012 alone grew by 9 percent with 1,505 units sold from 1,375 in December 2011.

Likewise, total sales of light commercial vehicles increased by 28 percent compared to December 2011.

This was driven by aggressive promotions of the Tucson and the timely arrival of the all-new Santa Fe and the Grand Starex.

Hyundai president and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo attributed the growth in large part to the overall growth in the economy. “The Philippine economy has surpassed its projected target growth for 2012, and consumer spending remains buoyant,” Agudo said.

With a positive turnout for 2012, Agudo said Hyundai intends to post even higher sales in 2013.

“Hyundai in 2013 is all set to become truly the most beloved auto brand of the Filipino,” she said.

Hyundai noted that the Philippine economy is seen to settle at around 6 percent in 2012, falling within the government’s target of 5 to 6 percent, driven by active household and government consumption combined with continued expansion in the industry and service sectors.

Amid global uncertainty, the country’s relatively stable macroeconomic environment should further solidify the ability of the Philippine economy to keep its growth momentum and achieve a targeted growth of 6 to 7 percent in 2013 and thus favor a positive outlook for the Philippine automotive industry.