Car sales up 20.4pc in six months

KARACHI: Sales of passenger cars rose 20.4 to 103,432 units in the first half of the current fiscal year of 2017/18, official data showed on Wednesday.

Car sales stood at 85,901 in the same period of last fiscal year, according to Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA).

In December 2017, sale of cars fell to 16,159 units as against 17,233 units in the previous month and 14,024 units in the same month a year ago.

Topline Securities, in a report, said the decline was due to the year-end’s leaner period of auto sales.

A total of 47,087 cars of 1,300cc or above category were sold during the first half, up 5.92 percent over the same period a year earlier.

But, the sale in the category declined to 6,652 units in December 2017 as against 8,087 in November and 6,880 units in December 2016.

Arslan Hanif, an analyst at Arif Habib Limited attributed the decline to crackdown of Indus Motor Company and cancellation of pre-booked orders of cars due to excess premium charged by dealers.

Under the category of 1,000cc category, a total of 23,642 units of Suzuki Cultus and Suzuki WagonR were sold, up 61 percent against 14,669 units sold last year.

One analyst said there is a huge increase in 1,000cc cars, as both WagonR and new variant of Cultus saw an amazing success in the country during the period under review.

Dispatch of 1,000cc category cars exhibited an uptick due to a massive demand from Careem, Uber and other transportation businesses.

Sales of 800cc and below 1,000cc cars, Suzuki Mehran and Bolan, increased 22 percent to 32,703 units in July-December from 26,780 units in the corresponding period last year.

“We believe Pak Suzuki continued to be major beneficiary as majority of used-car imports fall under lower engine capacity segment,” Topline Securities added.

A total of 4,562 buses and trucks were sold in the six-month period, up 17.5 percent.

Sales of farm tractors grew 54.3 percent to 32,310 units during the period under review.

A total of 6,797 jeeps were sold during the July-December period, depicting manifold growth as compared to 205 units sold during the same period last year.

The hefty sales were visibly due to an introduction of Honda’s BR-V. Honda recorded sales of 5,159 units of its new edition during the first half.

Sale of pick-ups was recorded at 13,909 units during the six months as against 11,427 units sold in the corresponding period last year.

Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association data further showed that a total of 940,825 motorcycles and three-wheelers were sold during the period under review, up a 19 percent over the same period a year ago.