The new company name of Hyundai in PH is...

Hello HMPI

If you're wondering why information is trickling in on a somewhat piece by piece basis about the new Hyundai distributor in the Philippines, well we're wondering that too.

Since the new distributor hasn't made any official announcements or released any statements via email or called for any virtual meetings, we've had to do it to old fashioned way: talking to our contacts in the industry. AutoIndustriya has been doing this very thing for 22 years, and thankfully we're still pretty good at it.

What we can do now is confirm a few more important pieces of information regarding the new distributor based on a well placed contact. The first is that a lady will be at the helm of the new Hyundai distributor in the country, and her name is indeed Audrey Byun.

Information about her background is rather thin, but from what we understand, she does have a lot of experience in working with dealer networks. This is based on what we can find about her previous assignments in her time with Hyundai Asia Pacific.

The other piece of information is the name of the company: Hyundai Motor Philippines, Inc., and that means they will be known as HMPI.

We were able to verify with two sources regarding the company name, and it makes a lot of sense. If there's a company name that would indicate its status as part of the structure of Hyundai Motor Company, then HMPI would be the logical and straightforward choice. They don't use words to create an acronym; they just do [insert brand here] Motor Philippines.

A lady at the helm isn't new for Hyundai in the country as the appointment of Byun somewhat mirrors how Hyundai's previous distributor for passenger vehicles (Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. or HARI) has been led from the start by Fe Perez-Agudo. That also means means the two ladies will effectively lead separate organizations for the Hyundai Motor brand: HMPI for the cars, SUVs, and vans, while HARI retains the growing truck and bus side.

We've got some info on the changes to the model range too, and once we firm up some of the details, we'll let you know.