PESHAWAR: There has been a significant increase in sales of two motorcycle manufacturing companies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) as the bike financing is currently in swing after the improvement in the security situation in the province.
Documents of the KP Excise and Taxation department show that motorcycles of 94 companies are available for sale in KP but the company that is offering bikes through bank financing has dominated the KP market.
Atlas Honda tops the sales’ chart despite its high prices as compared to other companies and is due to better quality and banks financing scheme.
The E&T department’s data further shows that in 2018, a total of 9,389 Honda motorcycles were registered, while in 2019 the number increased to 12,005.
Similarly, in 2018, Zxmco sold a total of 7,848 units, however in 2019 the company’s sales increased to 9,316 units.
On the other hand some companies witnessed drop in their sales.
For example, a total 5,441 motorcycles of the United Auto Industry were registered in 2018 that were reduced to 3,572 units in 2019.
In 2018, Yamaha sold 256 units that were reduced to 201 in 2019.
Uni Star too witnessed a drop in sales as against 880 units registered in 2018 only 660 units were registered in 2019. All other companies couldn’t cross the two hundred marks.
According to sources in Atlas Honda, the motorcycle industry is seeing boom in sales after banks in KP started motorcycle financing schemes.
Most of banks prefer to finance Atlas Honda bikes because various departments of the KP government including police, livestock, TMAs, health and education prefer Honda bikes for their employees.
The company has contracts with the Bank of Khyber, Meezan Bank, Khushali Bank and CSD Stores.
Sources say through these banks, Atlas Honda is selling 10,000 to 15,000 motorcycles annually in the Peshawar division, while up to 30,000 in divisions of Dera Ismail Khan, Chitral and Malakand.
Such financing schemes weren’t possible in the past as banks were not willing to initiate schemes due to war against terror and instability in the region.
Now in KP, not only public employees but also of private companies are benefiting from this scheme, which has led to an increase in sales of motorcycle companies.
