Hyundai auto sales up 6%

Hari chair Richard Lee, president and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo, chief finance officer Ladislao Avila and SVP for trade operations and development Jun R. Cortez in front of Hyundai’s first mass-production electric bus —aida sevilla-mendoza

Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (Hari), the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines, capped the first semester with a 6-percent increase in sales from year-ago level, driven mainly by the passenger car segment.

Data from the company showed that Hyundai had recovered its year-on-year sales last month, following a decline in May, in spite of the flat growth in the light commercial vehicle deliverables.

Sales of passenger cars jumped by 13 percent in June to 2,269 units from 2,014 units a year ago. Light commercial vehicles sold 934 units from 938 units a year ago.

In total, Hyundai sold 3,203 units last month, a 9-percent rise from 2,952 units a year ago.

This is the second time Hari reached the 3,000 mark in terms of year-on-year sales after hitting 3,371 units in March, the highest monthly output of the company in its 15-year history.

From January to June, the Hyundai distributor sold 17,364 units, up 6 percent from 16,362 units a year ago.

“Hari’s aggressive growth in the first half of 2017 is a strong testament to the impact we have set in the hearts of the Filipino people. A responsive automotive market, together with our high-quality, best-in-class, and customer-focused products and services, keep us on track for another record-breaking year,” said Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo, Hari president and CEO, in a statement.

Passenger car sales in the first semester grew by 7 percent to 12,037 units from 11,207 units in the first half of last year. Hyundai Accent remains Hari’s top seller, accounting for more than half of the first semester sales.

Sales of light commercial vehicles rose by 3 percent to 5,327 units from 5,155 units a year ago. –Roy Stephen C. Canivel