Car sales up 48 percent in 10 months

KARACHI: Passenger car sales in Pakistan increased by 48 percent to 126,579 units in the first 10 months (July-April) of FY2021, industry data showed on Monday.

According to data released by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (Pama), passenger car sales stood at 85,330 units during the same period last year. Sales in April were recorded at 14,435 while there were no sales in April last year due to lockdown. However, April sales were down 16 percent over March and that were recorded at 17,105 units.

Non-Pama member Lucky Motor Corporation sold 1,800 to 2,000 units, according to Topline Research. One analyst said factories were shut in April last year amid Covid-19. The lockdown started on March 22 and two big players Indus Motors and Suzuki had plants in Sindh been shut down. Later on, the whole country had come under the lockdown. April saw no sales of cars. However, sales of few motor bikes and rickshaws were recorded in April last year. He said that April sales were also down against March sales because of the start of Holy Month of Ramadan, in which car trade usually goes down.

Trucks and buses, jeeps, tractors, pickups, three-wheelers and motorcycles have also shown an increase in the cumulative sales.

During the 10-month period, 1,300cc and above car sales recorded at 62,571 units, up 81 percent compared with the last year’s sales of 34,528 units. Besides of having no sales April last year, there was an addition of Toyota Yaris and Hyundai Elantra in this year’s sales.

In April 21, a total of 6,838 units of 1,300 cc and above cars were sold. It included 2,053 units of Honda Civic and City, 181 units of Suzuki Swift, 17,24 units of Toyota Corolla, 2,600 units of Toyota Yaris and 280 units of Hyundai Elantra. During April, Suzuki did not produce any unit of Swift car.

During these months, 1,000cc cars saw an increase of 42 percent in sales to 23,734 units from 16,677 units. In April, a total of 2759 cars of 1000 cc were sold, which were little below 2,896 cars sold in March this year. Under 800 CC cars, sales were recorded at 40,374 units from 34,125 units sold last year. During April a total of 4,838 cars were sold, down to March’s 5,762 units.

Buses and trucks saw a small increase to 3,547 units in July-April from 3,304 units. Sale of jeeps increased by manifolds to 9,191 units from 3,140 units sold during the same period last year. However, April sales of 1,101 units were down to March’s sales of 1,671 units.

In July-April, pick-up sales increased to 16,081 units from 10,212 units in the corresponding period last year. Sales of tractors increased to 41,456 units from 25,562 units.

Rickshaws and motor bikes’ sale rose by 34 percent to 1.58 million units during the collective period compared with 1.18 million units of last year. However, April sales remained below than March sales.