Hyundai PH’s Sales Down by 7 Percent in April 2018

Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines, has registered a dip in sales for the month of April. HARI’s sales in April 2018 went down by 7 percent with 2,345 units sold as compared to the 2,521 units sold the same period in 2017. Could HARI’s April 2018 sales performance be considered as the outcome of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law? Or are we rushing into a conclusion that TRAIN law is indeed the reason behind HARI’s sales in April? Let’s look at some numbers from the first quarter (Q1) of 2018. Numbers don’t lie and by far the TRAIN law is giving the Philippine automotive industry a headache. In Q1 2018, the data released by the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines, Inc. (CAMPI) and the Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA) showed a decline in vehicle sales as compared to 2017. The unit sales of new cars dropped to 8.5 percent in Q1 2018 with 86,037 units, which is almost 8,000 units lower compared to Q1 2017. As such, the slowdown in Philippine auto sales during the last quarter could still be affecting the performance of local manufacturers, such as HARI, last month. The Accent remains to be HARI’s best-selling model with 1,214 units sold last month. However, that figure is 113 units lower as compared to the number of units sold the same period last year. The second best performing model of HARI in terms of unit sales is the Eon with 292 units sold, which is 39 units less from the same period last year. The Elantra yielded 100 units sold, which is seven units less in comparison with the same period last year. On the other hand, the Grand Starex posted 326 units sold while the Tucson registered the biggest plunge in sales growth last April 2018 with 180 units sold. The Tucson’s April 2018 sales is far from its last year’s 347 unit sales. Despite this slow down in sales, HARI still has a reason to smile as the H-100 finished April 2018 with 233 units sold, which is 201 units more as compared to the same period last year.