Hyundai sales dip in January, but LCV sales perform well

Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (Hari), the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the country, sold a total of 2,758 vehicles for the first month of 2019.

January sales showed a 5 percent and 6.7 percent dip on the year-on-year and month-on-month periods, respectively.

The passenger car (PC) segment is on a transition phase, and declined by 29.1 percent, from 2,036 units sold in January 2018 to 1,443 units in January 2019.

The release of the new Accent buoyed the segment to maintain a consistent demand for the brand’s popular sedans.

It is expected that sales of Hyundai passenger cars will eventually grow in the coming months with the recent launch of the Reina sub-compact sedan.

On the other hand, the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment experienced a significant growth of 51.7 percent, from 867 units in January 2018 to 1,315 units in the same period of this year.

The addition of the Kona and the heightened demand for the H-100 bolstered the segment’s performance.

Sales and economic outlook

Macroeconomic performance of the previous year has left the market cautious in purchasing big ticket items, such as cars.

However, this is expected to subside as the economy improves on the back of sustained government spending and increasing investments on the its infrastructure program.

This is supported by positive sentiments from the market as inflation begins to ease, dropping to 4.4 percent in January 2019, with the effects of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusiong (TRAIN) Act slowly dissipating.

As the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is expected to loosen its monetary stance, this would result to a better environment for the automotive-buying consumer.

Overall, Hyundai remains positive that the positive economic outlook, supplemented by the timing of new model releases, will be enough to boost the demand for Hyundai vehicles in the country.

According to Hari president and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo, “The outlook for the Philippine automotive industry remains optimistic as macroeconomic headwinds begin to ease.

“Hyundai stands resolute as it brings in new and market-leading products to take advantage of the opportunities laid out in 2019.”