HARI projects 20% sales growth this year

MANILA, Philippines - Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) has revised its sales growth expectation this year to 20 percent from flat growth in January as the supply chain recovers.

“The target this year is 20 percent. Actually in January, I said zero, but the supply is coming in, even if not yet at a normal level. it looks like we can achieve a 20 percent target, “ said HARI president and CEO Fe Perez-Agudo during HARI’s thanksgiving party on Friday for the naming of its Elantra model as the 2012 Car of the Year by the Car Awards Group.

She said there is still a supply backlog of three months particularly for its Elantra, Accent, and Starex models. She said demand for the Elantra model surged 50 percent in the past three weeks since it was named car of the year.

HARI’s sales grew only one percent last year with sales of 20,297 units from 20,172 units in 2010. Its 2011 performance was largely bogged down by a 10 percent decline in commercial vehicle sales to 9,597 units from 10,722 units in 2010.

HARI, however, closed the first quarter of 2012 with a 44 percent growth in car sales because of strong turnover of passenger car (PC) models. Sold were 6,767 units from January to March, up from 4,712 units sold in the same period last year.

The company said sales of PC models such as the i10, Accent and the Elantra, posted a 127 percent increase for the first three months of the year to 4,297 units sold against 1,889 units sold in the same period last year.

HARI, which imports wholly built cars from Korea, also stands to greatly benefit from the implementation of the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement that will reduce its tariff obligations by 20 to 30 percent and greatly reduce its backlog.

Agudo said that while the reduction of tariff obligations for car importers like HARI would not immediately translate to lower unit prices, but would improve the services offered by dealers. 

“You can enjoy the benefit of the ASEAN free trade not directly to the price but more to upgrading the capabilities and services of the dealers in the Philippines. This is what we are looking at. We can see the long term effect,” she said, adding “We can also provide customers more privileges.”