Supply problems continue to hound Hyundai’s PHL car sales

Sales this year of Korea’s Hyundai in the Philippine will like round off to 22,000 units or the same in 2012 as supply issues continued hound efforts at making a killing in the local market.
 
"We are still hopeful we will achieve that target," Fe Perez-Agudo, Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) president and chief executive officer, told reporters at the sidelines of the Hyundai New Thinkers Summit Kick Off  Friday.
 
The company sold 21,996 vehicles in the Philippines last year.
 
Company sales, however, were down 4 percent as of end-September from 17,156 a year earlier, Agudo noted, citing the supply of cars has not been catching up with demand.
 
"The supply constraint continues. It has been here for the last two years. The demand continues too," Agudo said, noting the company can only supply 70 to 80 percent of current demand.
 
Because of the supply constraints, Hari already stopped accepting reservations, except for the Eon model, considering that Hyundai cars sold in the Philippine are i    mported from South Korea.
 
The problem is also expected to have a ripple effect and impact on sales of the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors Inc.'s (AVID) this 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, adding that HARI accounts for the bulk of the group's sales.
 
The umbrella group for imported car distributors sold 28,400 units in 2012.
 
As of end-August, AVID sales reached 20,558 units, up 3 percent from 19,876 a year earlier. – VS GMA News