MANILA -- The official importer and distributor of Hyundai in the Philippines expects the transitory impact of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) to gradually fade and vehicle sales in the country will pick up in the coming months.
On Thursday, Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI) President and Chief Executive Officer Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said the confidence among businesses and consumers remain even though the country is still in the transitory period resulting from the reforms rolled out by the Duterte administration.
“Demand-side factors such as positive business and consumer confidence and the increasing investments of the current administration’s “Build, Build, Build” Program would be enough to balance out any perceived negative outcomes in the economy,” she said.
“Hyundai continues to endure as the brand remains buoyant amidst the disruptions faced by the industry,” she added.
HARI reported that growth in sales of its light commercial vehicles in July has softened the impact of the double-digit decline in sales of its passenger car segment, bringing its sales growth for the month to a single digit.
HARI’s sales declined by 8.8 percent last month despite the 35.7 percent decrease in sales of its passenger car, as light commercial vehicles’ sales rose 58.3 percent.
Passenger cars shared two-thirds of HARI’s sales, while the rest are light commercial vehicles.
From January to July 2018, HARI sold a total of 19,236 units, 8.2 percent lower than the 20,960 unit sales in the same period last year.
Passenger car sales in the first seven months of the year declined by 14.5 percent to 12,487 units from 14,603 units a year ago.
On the other hand, sales of light commercial vehicles went up by 6.2 percent to 6,749 units in January to July 2018 from 6,357 units in the same period in 2017.
“In the midst of all the uncertainty faced by the automotive industry, Hyundai has proven itself to weather the odds with its strong start in the second half of the year,” Perez-Agudo said.
“We expect transitory effects begin to fade the sale of automotive vehicles to stabilize in the coming months as these,” she noted. (PNA)
