Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines, is off to the races as it starts January 2017 with an 18% growth, or a total of 2,817 units sold, as compared to the same period of the previous year.
HARI’s auspicious performance was mainly attributed to the continuing strong demand for automotive vehicles in the country. The year-on-year segment results show that the PC segment played as the main driver to HARI’s growth with a 29% increase. This is credited to the Accent, the brand’s sub-compact passenger car, as it proved to be HARI’s bestselling nameplate with a 124% increase compared to its January 2016 sales.
Sales and Economic Outlook
Philippine GDP remained at a healthy and steady pace as it ended 2016 with a Full Year average 6.8%, falling within the upper limit of the government’s 2016 GDP target of 6.0% – 7.0%. GDP for the fourth quarter of 2016 stalled at 6.6% as investors adopted a “wait-and-see” attitude due to the transition of the new government. Nevertheless, the overall strong growth of the economy can be attributed to the rising spending on infrastructure and domestic demand, as well as the buoyant business and consumer sentiment, adequate credit, and domestic liquidity.
Hyundai’s strong start to the year reflects an optimistic view in the automotive industry amidst the proposed excise tax on automotive vehicles. This is due to stable macroeconomic fundamentals, increasing household incomes, and upbeat rating in auto-buying intentions.