SINGAPORE: A stronger yen - and to some extent a weaker won - have helped Hyundai to overtake the Japanese competition and zoom up the local sales chart to the No 2 position. After the first three months of 2009, the Korean marque is the second most popular brand here behind perennial leader Toyota.
Among members of the Motor Traders Association of Singapore (MTA), Hyundai ended 2008 in fifth place.
It has now returned to a position it enjoyed a few years back - in 2005 it was Singapore's No 3 brand, and in 2004, the No 2 make.
The big improvement in ranking is especially striking, because the local passenger car market will shrink at least 24.2 per cent this year. The maximum number of cars that can be registered in 2009 is 73,830. In 2008, 97,348 cars were registered, of which MTA members sold a collective 70,809.
So far this year, registrations of passenger cars by MTA - a group of authorised distributors - total 17,284.
Hyundai sales started accelerating in December 2008 with a strong performance by the Avante compact sedan.
From January to March 2009, authorised distributor Komoco Motors registered 2,505 cars, of which a whopping 2,059 - or 82.2 per cent - were Avantes.
But even these numbers are a far cry from Singapore's No 1 make, Toyota. Official distributor Borneo Motors Singapore, registered 4,489 passenger cars in the first three months of 2009, including 274 luxury Lexus units.
Toyota is the only Japanese brand so far this year to retain the status quo (see table).
In the first quarter of 2009, authorised Honda distributor Kah Motor registered 2,079 passenger vehicles to claim No 3 position.
The higher yen has made cars sourced from countries other than Japan appear less expensive, and the depressed economy has caused buyers to turn to cheaper Korean and Thai imports.
Another Korean marque that has benefited greatly from forex movements is Kia, which is currently in the Top 10. In Q1, authorised distributor Cycle & Carriage registered 984 cars and propelled Kia from No 11 last year to No 6 today.
In the luxury segment, Mercedes-Benz registered 928 passenger cars in Q1 - down 22.1 per cent from 1,191 in Q1 2008.
Merc's Q1 2009 volume includes 149 top-of-the-line S-Class limousines.
Its current No 7 ranking is one place down from No 6 at end-2008.
BMW registered 744 passenger cars in Q1 - down 21.7 per cent from 950 in the same period last year.
BMW's latest volume includes 75 units of its new flagship 7 Series limousine, which arrived here in January. BMW's year-to-date ranking is No 8, from No 7 at end-2008.
This article was first published in The Business Times.
