Accent lifts Hyundai to 21% year-on-year growth in February 2017

Hyundai’s passenger car (PC) segment scored a 22 percent year-on-year growth, according to the February 2017 sales report of Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), the authorized importer and distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines.

This contrasted with the 7.2 percent year-on-year decline of PC sales in February 2017 posted by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI).

HARI president/ CEO Ma. Fe Perez Agudo, who heads the Association of Vehicles Importers and Distributors (AVID), said that Hyundai continued its strong showing in 2017 as it grew by 21 percent in February, or a total of 2,653 units sold compared to 2,189 in February last year.

This pushed the Korean brand’s accumulated January to February sales to 5,247 units, up by 15 percent compared to 4,576 in January-February 2016.

Agudo specifically credited HARI’s ascent to the Accent, Hyundai’s subcompact PC and HARI’s best-selling nameplate, which posted a 114 percent increase last month to 1,286 units sold compared to its February 2016 sales of 600 units.

Surge

In year-to-date (January-February 2017) sales, the Accent surged to 2,704 units compared to last year’s YTD sales of 1,232.

At the same time, HARI’s light commercial vehicle (CV) segment grew by 19 percent in February 2017 to 719 units compared to 606 in February last year.

Hyundai’s year-to-date total vehicle sales of 5,247 units outperformed Ford Motor Company Philippines, Inc.’s 2017 YTD of 4,019 units.

In month-to-date (February 2017) sales, Hyundai’s 2,653 units sold also outshone Ford’s MTD sales of 1,500 units.

CAMPI continues to post Ford’s monthly sales reports, although Ford joined AVID in mid-2015 after leaving CAMPI many years ago.

This may be why both CAMPI and AVID include Ford’s figures in their sales reports.

However, unlike CAMPI, AVID as a whole does not release a monthly sales report.

Battle

Whenever a feature article ranks car brands according to the sales reports of both CAMPI and AVID, Ford and Hyundai invariably battle for third place since Toyota and Mitsubishi have long ago locked up the no. 1 and no. 2 spots, respectively.

However, last month, Isuzu toppled Ford from third place in the CAMPI total vehicles sales report with 1,904 units sold compared to Ford’s 1,500.

This means that HARI will face a new rival for third place in overall industry sales in April when both CAMPI and AVID issue their first quarter sales reports.

HARI’s PC lineup consists of the best-selling Accent, Eon mini subcompact, Elantra compact sedan, Sonata midsize sedan, and Veloster sports car, with the Eon as second best in sales.

In HARI’s LCV stable are the Starex/Grand Starex, Tucson compact crossover, Santa Fe midsize crossover and H100 delivery truck, with the Starex as the best-selling LCV.

In February 2017, 270 units of the Starex were sold compared to 236 in February last year.

The Accent’s ascent was foreseen last year when it overtook the Honda City in sales to capture the no. 2 spot behind Toyota’s Vios in the combined CAMPI and AVID Top 5 Subcompact Cars list for 2016.