KARACHI: Cars sales dropped for the month of December 2017 by 9 per cent month on month basis as people waited for the turn of the calendar to 2018.
According to data released by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA), the total car sales dropped by 9 per cent, as total car sales stood at 19,237 units, including LCVs and 4x4s.
However, the total sales were 20 per cent higher as compared to cars’ sales in December 2016, respectively. But last year the local manufacturers faced stiff resistance from sale of imported used cars, which has now virtually been curtailed by the government in order to maintain dollar level in reserves.
Meanwhile, in the 1300cc and above category, sales declined by 18 per cent MoM and 3 per cent on year on year basis to 6,652 units. According to an AHL report, it was mainly due to customers’ preference to get deliveries in the new year. Another reason was debottlenecking of Honda’s paint shop to enhance its capacity which limited production of the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
On the other hand, Indus Motors Company cracked down and cancelled pre-booked orders of cars during the month due to excess premium charged by dealers, known as own-money.
Dispatch of 1,000cc category cars exhibited an uptick of 59 per cent YoY and 22 per cent MoM to 4,257 units particularly due to massive demand from Careem, Uber and other transportation businesses.
Meanwhile, Wagon R and Cultus sales registered a growth of 30 per cent MoM and 10 per cent MoM, respectively. In the below 1,000cc category, Mehran sales continued to remain stable at 3,390 units (up by 22 per cent YoY and down by 14 per cent MoM).
In LCVs and 4x4s category, Honda BR-V, Toyota Fortuner and Suzuki Ravi sales were down by 40 per cent MoM, 18 per cent MoM and 13 per cent MoM while Hilux sales grew by 1 per cent MoM, respectively.
Tractors sales displayed a slow-down of 10 per cent MoM while registering an enormous growth of 55 per cent YoY to 4,976 units. During the month, AGTL witnessed a decline of 50 per cent MoM while MTL managed to capture market and posted growth of 20 per cent MoM to 3,733 units.
Overall the total sales in the industry increased by 27 per cent year on year basis.
