Tractor, truck sales jump in July-February

KARACHI: Tractor and truck sales jumped  80 and 46 percent, respectively, during the last eight months of the current financial year (July 2016 to February 2017), a monthly report by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) said on Friday. 

The data showed tractor sales in the period under review jumped to 31,955 units against 17,772 units in the same period last year. The truck sales rose to 4,677 units in the period, compared to 3,194 units sold last year, while 765 buses were sold against 609 units during the corresponding period a year ago. 

A total of 121,275 cars were sold during this period, down 0.54 percent, against 121,934 units in the same period last year.

According to industry officials, this decline is due to a sharp fall in the sales of Suzuki Bolan –its sales skyrocketed last year because of its inclusion in Chief Minister’s Apna Rozgar Scheme in Punjab last year. 

Mashood Ali Khan, Chairman Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) told The News that overall car sales have increased if you take Bolan numbers out of it. 

“Last year, around 50,000 units of Mehran, Bolan and Ravi were purchased under Punjab chief minister’s employment scheme. Thus, a fall against these numbers cannot be counted as declining trend,” he said. 

He added that if Bolan, which is disputed in the car category, is taken out from the list, car sales show an increase of 10 percent to 107,994 units against 98,086 units last year.   Furthermore, in the range of 1300cc or above, a total of 62,699 cars were sold, up 10 percent against 56,476 units sold in the same period last year. 

Sales of Honda Civic and City models increased to 24,325 units in this period compared to 15,793 units in the same period last year. Suzuki Swift sales also climbed to 2,873 units against 2,614 units last year. Whereas, Toyota Corolla sales fell to 35,501 units compared to 38,069 units last year. 

In 1000cc category, a total of 21,033 cars were sold, up 30 percent against 16,141 units in the corresponding period last year. In this category, Suzuki WagonR dominated with 10,812 units, followed by Suzuki Cultus with 10,220 units against 10,117 cars sold last year, whereas, only one Hyundai Santro was also sold during this period.

A total of 37,543 cars were sold under 800cc or below category, down from 49,317 cars sold last year.  It included 24,262 units of Mehran against 25,469 units and 13,281 units of Bolan against 23,848 units sold last year. 

These eight months saw a total sale of 568 jeeps against 541 units sold last year. A total of 16,260 units of pick-ups were sold against 26,836 units last year. 

During this period, sales of two and three-wheelers increased to 1.06 million from 878,723 units sold in the last year. Sales of Honda motorcycles revved up to 626,040 units from 532,183 units and Suzuki bikes to 12,037 units compared to 11,670 units last year.

On the other hand, Yamaha sales fell to 7,738 units from 11,198 bikes sold last year.