MANILA, Philippines - The local distributor of South Korea’s Hyundai vehicles expects its total sales this year to just match last year’s sales which reached almost 22,000 units as supply issues remain, an official said.
Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) president and chief executive officer Fe Perez-Agudo told reporters at the sidelines of the Hyundai New Thinkers Summit Kick Off Event yesterday the firm aims for total vehicle sales of 22,000 units this year.
“We are still hopeful we will achieve that target,” she said.
In 2012, HARI sold a total of 21,996 vehicles.
As of end-September, Agudo said Hyundai’s sales were down four percent from the 17,156 units in the same period last year.
Sales for this year are seen to be almost at the same level as last year’s as vehicle supply is not able to keep up with demand.
Hyundai vehicles sold here are imported from South Korea.
“The supply constraint continues. It has been here for the last two years. The demand continues too,” Agudo said.
She admitted that Hyundai is able to supply only 70 to 80 percent of the requirement at the moment.
Amid supply problems in almost all vehicle models sold here, except for the Eon, HARI has already stopped accepting reservations.
But while supply problems persist, Agudo assured it would not affect preparations for the introduction of upgrades to its vehicle models.
“Definitely (in) the first quarter of 2014, we will have some upgrade (to) models that we will launch in the Philippine market. Tucson will have an upgrade, the Elantra, Accent, most of our models,” she said.
HARI’s supply issues, however, may have an impact on the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, Inc.’s (AVID) total sales for the year.
“The AVID may also have flat growth, but definitely not negative because the rest of the members are also positive in their sales,” Agudo said noting that HARI accounts for the bulk of the group’s sales.
AVID sold a total of 28,400 units in 2012.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
