Hyundai retains 3rd spot in 1st semester 2017 auto sales

The Accent, HARI’s best-selling vehicle

A 6-percent increase in sales in the first half of 2017 kept Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) in the top three magic circle of the Philippine automotive industry.

HARI posted January-June 2017 sales of 17,364 vehicles compared to 16,362 sold in the same period last year.

According to the first half 2017 sales reports of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) and the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors (AVID), Toyota Motor Philippines remained the leader with year-to-date (YTD) sales of 85,728 units, followed by Mitsubishi Motor Philippines Inc. with YTD sales of 34,549 units.

Outpacing Ford

Having sold 17,364 units in the first half, HARI kept third place in overall industry sales, and once again outpaced Ford Group Philippines, which sold 16,695 units in the same period.

HARI’s volume driver is the passenger cars (PCs) segment, which grew by 7 percent from 11,207 units in the first half of 2016 to 12,037 units in the same period this year.

Hyundai kept the lion’s share of the PC segment in the 11-member AVID with 12,039 units, representing 64 percent of total AVID PC unit sales in the first half of 2017.

The Accent subcompact continued as Hyundai’s top-selling nameplate with 7,711 units sold in the first sem of 2017, followed by the mini subcompact Eon with 3,624 units sold.

The Eon is now being produced at the Hyundai Assembly Center in Calamba, Laguna which was opened earlier this year.

LCV sales growth

HARI posted a more modest growth of 3 percent in the LCV segment with 5,327 units sold compared to 5,135 in the same year-ago period.

LCV sales were led by the Grand Starex with 2,063 unitts followed by the Tucson compact SUV/crossover with 1,541 units and the H100 utility truck with 1,365 units sold.

HARI’s sales report for the first half this year did not include the H350, Hyundai’s new 14-seater CRDi diesel luxury van whose claim to fame is its 6-foot, 3-inches cabin standing height and 3.5-feet legroom.

HARI began selling the H350 through its 42 dealers nationwide in the second quarter this year.

PCs trump LCVs

Although Ford, which reports its sales to both CAMPI and AVID, sold 16,209 LCVs (or pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and crossovers including the EcoSport) compared to Hyundai’s 5,327 LCVs in the first half of 2017, the American brand sold only 486 PCs compared to the Korean brand’s 12,039 PCs.

HARI Foundation Inc. president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo (center, holding plaque) and Asean Center for Biodiversity director Roberto Oliva (left of Agudo) during the signing of a memorandum of cooperation for the Asean Biodiversity Heroes awards to be held on August 7, 2017.

Ford thereby registered a negative variance of -0.4 percent for the first half of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016 while Hyundai registered 6 percent growth.

The surge in PC sales, especially of subcompact cars like the Accent, Toyota Vios and Mitsubishi Mirage, can be partly traced to the success of ride-hailing services like Uber and Grab and the various auto loans being offered by commercial banks.

More people are buying small cars on installment basis to rent out as Uber or Grab cars.

Back-to-back awards

Meanwhile, aside from clinching the coveted third spot in auto industry sales, HARI has been winning awards from its parent firm, Hyundai Motor Company.

Since its appointment as the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines 16 years ago, HARI has garnered Hyundai’s Asia-Pacific Distributor of the Year four times (2005, 2006, 2008 and 2013) and the Hyundai Global Distributor of the Year twice (2010 and 2016.)

Earlier this month, at the Global Customer Service Innovation Seminar in Seoul, Hyundai Motor presented the Excellent Customer Service Achievement award to HARI for its passenger car business.

HARI bested 47 other countries and won the award together with the official Hyundai distributors of Puerto Rico, South Africa and Turkey.

HARI senior AVP for after-sales operations Richard Gapasin (4th from left) receives the Excellent Customer Service Achievement Award for the passenger cars segment from Hyundai Motor Co. EVP and COO for international operations division Byung Kwon Rhim (rightmost) at the Global Customer Service Innovation Seminar in Seoul, Korea.

The month of July 2017 saw back-to-back awards for HARI as Hyundai Motor also gave the Service Excellence Award for Best Service Cooperation to the Philippine distributor for its commercial vehicle business.

HARI was recognized for its outstanding after-sales support programs, for having the best reach-out plan for before-service operations, and for having assisted the most number of customers.

“These awards symbolize the triumph of the Filipino customer with whom we share every achievement and success that we enjoy,” HARI president and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said.

“These are the very embodiment of our brand campaign ‘Gusto Ko, Kaya Ko, Sama Tayo.’ We are more than just a mobility solutions provider. We are the Filipino’s lifetime partner, and we will continue to provide customer-centric innovation and find more solutions to enhance the people’s lives.”