Hyundai car sales up, light commercial vehicles down

FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Sales of Hyundai motor vehicles barely grew by 1 percent to 7,629 units in the first four months of the year, pulled down largely by a decline in the number of light commercial vehicles sold during the period.

Data from Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines, showed that sales of passenger cars from January to April this year increased by 16 percent to 5,050 units from 4,366 units a year ago.

This offset almost entirely, however, by the weak performance of the light commercial vehicle segment, whose sales dropped by 19 percent to 2,579 units during the same period.

For April alone, total sales rose by a meager 2 percent to 1,646 units from the 1,607 units sold in the same month last year. Sales in the passenger car segment grew by 9 percent to 1,046 units, while those of the light commercial vehicles  fell by 7 percent to 600 units, HARI said.

Despite HARI’s flat overall sales performance, the company continued to be optimistic about its prospects for the year.

“Riding on the country’s recent credit upgrade rating milestone, Hyundai sets forth its commitment in achieving sustainable growth this year on the back of increased consumer confidence in our brand,” said HARI president and CEO Ma. Fe Perez Agudo.

“Despite concerns of a slowdown this year, the Philippine economy continued its positive streak with another credit upgrade rating milestone from Standard and Poor’s. The unexpected credit upgrade comes at a time of continued confidence in the Philippine market on the back of the country’s solid external position, robust domestic demand and improving investor climate,” she added.

“With the economy’s prevalent strength, the automotive industry’s success continues to be accelerated by renewed consumer confidence and favorable economic fundamentals. By year-end, the industry is set to post another banner year hitting double-digit growth in sales,” her statement added.

Agudo earlier admitted that the company expected sales to be flat this year. By 2015, however, the company expects sales to rise by as much as 25 percent, given the planned introduction of two new models.

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