Hyundai vehicle sales down in February

Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (Hari), the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines, saw a slight decline in total sales in February due to lower sales of its light commercial cars.

According to Hari data, the Hari sold 2,649 units in February this year, sliding 0.2 percent from the 2,653 unit sales it reported in the same month in 2017.

This was dragged down by a 5-percent year-on-year decline in sales of light commercial vehicles for the month of February, offsetting the 2-percent growth in the sale of passenger cars.

For the first two months, however, the company reported a 1.5-percent sales growth to 5,552 units from 5,470 units in the same period of 2017.

“February gives us a consistent start in 2018. This only shows the trust and commitment our customers have to our high-quality, best-in-class, and customer-focused products and services,” Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo, Hari president and CEO, said in a statement.

This marks the first two months of implementation of the new excise tax rates under the TRAIN law.

The TRAIN law, the first of a series of tax packages under the Duterte administration, lowered the personal income tax of millions of Filipinos while raising consumption taxes, including the excise tax rates for cars.

The car industry expects flat growth this year, partly because consumers had most likely already bought their cars last year ahead of the implementation of the higher excise tax rates.

The passenger car segment is still the main driver of company sales, accounting for almost three-fourths of the total units sold, or 4,002 units year-to-date. This, however, is 4 percent lower than the 4,157 units in the first two months of 2017.

Light commercial vehicles sold 18 percent more in January and February.