Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Hyundai vehicles in the Philippines, closed its 2017 sales with a record-high of 37,678 units, a 12 percent sales growth from 33,695 units in 2016.

The Passenger Cars (PC) segment grew by 7 percent in 2017, registering sales at 25,529 units. Accent is the top-selling unit and also has the fastest growth in the PC segment. It contributed 16,454 units to HARI’s 2017 sales, a whooping sales growth of 33 percent from 12,360 units in 2016. Elantra also increased at 20 percent with 1,963 units sold in 2017 compared to the 1,631 units sold in 2016.

Meanwhile, Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) segment recorded a phenomenal growth of 23 percent from 2016’s sales, having 12,149 units sold in 2017 from 9,888 units in 2016. The largest contributor of LCV segment sales is Grand Starex with 4,295 units sold in 2017. It grew by 562 units from the previous year, recording a 15 percent growth rate. Tucson also increased at 12 percent having 3,649 units sold versus 3,257 units sold in 2016. The fastest growing unit in this segment is H-100, which closed at 3,439 units for 2017 from 2,280 units last year. H-100 registered an enormous growth of 51 percent.

With the passing of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) into law, pressure for further price increase, particularly in the automotive sector, is likely inevitable. Nevertheless, the automotive sector remains optimistic that the additional disposable household income of taxpayers resulting from TRAIN and the technology-driven value proposition of car players would likely to sustain high demand for automotive vehicles. HARI hopes to leverage on this sustained high consumer confidence as it welcomes moves ahead in 2018.