Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI), the official distributor of Hyundai passenger cars and commercial vehicles ended the year strong with 2.9 percent growth in December 2019 or 3,163 units sold versus the same month last year.

December marked the third month in 2019 that HARI breached the 3,000-unit sales mark.

For the full year, Hyundai sales reached 33,763 units, enabling it to maintain its position in the market as one of the leading brands in the Philippine market. However, this is a 6.1 percent drop from 2018 mainly due to the company’s non-participation in some market segments, such as pickup trucks.

Month-on-month, the Passenger Cars (PC) segment rose by 8.5 percent, from 1,516 units in December 2018 to 1,645 units in December 2019. This was prompted by the Hyundai Reina (PC A-Segment), and the Hyundai Accent (PC B-Segment). In fact, the Reina finishes 2019 as the second best-selling model in the A-segment, while the Accent remains the third best-selling model in the B-segment. The company sold a total of 17,761 PC units in 2019.

Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) sales increased by 2.9 percent in December 2019 to 1,399 units compared to the same month last year spearheaded by the H-100 (Light Truck) and the Hyundai Kona (Sub-compact SUV).  Both models are No. 1 in their respective segments. Overall though, Hyundai LCV sales declined by 2.6 percent with 15,095 units sold.

Hyundai Commercial Vehicles (CV) continued to be the best performing segment for the year with a 63.4 percent full-year growth, or a total of 907 units sold led by the Hyundai County bus. HARI CV sales are expected to further surge in 2020 due to higher demand generated by government programs to improve the existing public transportation. Late last year, HARI rolled out its Class 2 and Class 3 Modern Jeepneys (built on the Hyundai HD50S platform) to serve the needs of transport cooperatives while the Hyundai H-100 Class-1 Modern Jeepney was launched earlier in 2019. Both Class 1 and 2 Modern Jeepneys were granted their Certificates of Compliance by the Department of Transportation in October 2019. IN 2019 alone, HARI inaugurated five dedicated CV dealerships.