Hyundai sales down 6% in 2018
Credit to Author: TYRONE JASPER C. PIAD| Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2019 16:12:46 +0000
Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. saw its automobile sales decrease by 6 percent to 35,401 units in 2018 from 37,678 last year, and by 2.5 percent to 10,227 in the fourth quarter from 10,489 in the same period in 2017.
In a statement on Monday, the local distributor of the South Korean-based car manufacturer said sales of its passenger cars, which accounted for 56.2 percent of the 2018 total, plunged by 22 percent to 19,905 units from 25,259. Of the cars sold in this segment, 75.6 percent were of its Accent model.
In contrast, sales of its “growth driver” — light commercial vehicles (LCV) — rose by 27.5 percent to 15,496 units from 12,149 in 2017.
In October to December alone, sales in this segment grew by 48.4 percent to 5,415 units from 3,650.
“Driven by the Kona, Tucson, Grand Starex and H-100, the brand’s LCV models have topped their respective subsegments and ruminatively maintained an upward growth trajectory for the brand,” Hyundai Asia said.
Amid “the uncertainty faced [by] the automotive industry [last] year, Hyundai has proven itself to weather the odds and exceed expectations,” Hyundai Asia President and Chief Executive Officer
Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said in the statement.
According to the firm, the single-digit drops it posted the previous year and quarter were “in contrast to an industry that has been declining in the double digits.”
Tax increases and higher-than-expected inflation caused car sales to fall by 16 percent last year, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. and the Truck Manufacturers Association reported earlier.
Hyundai Asia said its outlook for this year was still positive, as “economic conditions are expected to improve.” These include revenue boost from the Duterte administration’s “Build Build Build” infrastructure program, election spending and easing inflation.
“[Y]ou can expect more from us in 2019,” Perez-Agudo said.
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