Hyundai sales down 4%

Sales of Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Korean vehicle brand Hyundai in the Philippines, slipped 4 percent to 14,883 units in the first three quarters from 15,575 units in the same period last year.

Company data showed that sales in September alone were sluggish, falling to 1,612 units, or 11-percent lower than last year’s 1,818 units. The company, as with the rest of the auto industry, continued to suffer the ill effects of the Japan crisis as well as slower government and consumer spending.

HARI president and chief executive Maria Fe Perez-Agudo expressed optimism, however, that the company could still register growth in the remaining months of the year considering that auto sales usually spiked in the fourth quarter.

The vehicle distributor also experienced increased demand for its new passenger car models, she said. With more stable vehicle supply, customer demand would be more easily met.

“With the increasing market demand for Sonata and our new models, Accent and Elantra, Hyundai is strongly positioned to keep our growth in the passenger car segment. We continue to shore up the competitiveness of our dealerships and maintain our optimism in our full-year sales performance with expectations of reduced uncertainty from a stable economy, better supply situation and improved consumer outlook with the onset of the holiday season,” she said in a statement issued Monday.

The government’s commitment to spend more in the fourth quarter and the expected influx of overseas Filipino workers’ remittances were likewise seen propping up sales for the rest of the year, she added.

In the first nine months, HARI’s sales were almost an even split between its passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs).

The introduction of its new Accent and Elantra models this year helped jack up passenger car sales, even by just 1 percent, to 7,217 units in the January-September period from 7,153 units in the same months a year ago.