Car sales up 1.7 percent in July-March

KARACHI: Sales of passenger cars posted an increase of 1.7 percent in the first nine months of the current fiscal year 0f 2016/17, while tractor sales rose 74 percent during the period, manufactures said on Tuesday.

Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) said total car sales rose 1.72 percent, whereas trucks-buses sales increased 38.7 percent.

Aamir Allawala, former chairman Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) said sales had increased after arrival of automatic cars by Indus Motors and Honda. “Import of smaller cars can also come to an end if Suzuki makes its popular car WagonR automatic,” he said.

According to PAMA data, a total of 139,570 cars were sold during the nine-month period, higher than 137,206 cars in the corresponding period of last year.

A total of 72,095 cars of 1300cc or above category were sold during July-March period against 64,882 units sold during the same period of last year. In March 2017, a total of 18,295 cars were sold.

Under the category of 1,000 cc category, a total of 24,500 units of Suzuki Cultus and Suzuki WagonR were sold against 18,609 units sold last year whereas only one unit of Hyundai Santro was sold during the period.  

However, sales of 800 CC to 1000CC cars of Suzuki Mehran and Bolan fell to 42,974 units in nine months from 53,715 units last year.

A total of 6,174 buses and trucks were sold during July-March period against 4,451 units last year. Farm tractors recorded a growth of 74 percent in sales to 38,620 units, compared to 22,169 units during the same period of last year. A total of 811 LCVs, Vans and Jeeps were sold against sales of 601 units of same category in July 2015-March 2016. Similarly, 18,227 pick-ups were sold against 29,091 units in the corresponding period of 2016.

A total of 1.2 million motor cycles and three wheelers were sold during the period compared to 0.99 million units last year.

Analyst Hashim Sohail at Topline Securities said auto sales, including LCV’s and Jeeps (ex-Taxi scheme) continued to witness robust double digit growth in July-March period.

“Our expectation for car sales in FY17, stand firm at 270k units, including imports of 60k units,” he added.

He said PSMC volumes remained strong (ex-Taxi scheme) due to healthy sales volumes of Wagon-R and Bolan. “For the first time ever, ‘Wagon-R’ sales crossed 1,700 marks in March 2017.”

Sohail said Cultus production declined to 710 units, minus 53 percent month-on-month, as PSMC gears up to launch ‘Celario’ named as ‘New Cultus’ later this month

Indus Motors witnessed contraction during 9MFY17 due to operational issues. “Fortuner sales, at 243 units achieved the highest ever mark in March 2017, where the waiting period is 6 months.” Honda Car sales continued to depict buoyant trend. Sohail said tractor manufacturers continued to witness buoyancy in sales with off-take growing 80 percent in 9MFY17. “We expect better off-take during FY17 on the back of lower retail prices (reduced GST) and improving crop yield, while continuation of fertilizer subsidy will further support liquidity among farmers,” he added.