Local auto assemblers can take a sigh of relief as the month of August finally witnessed some recovery in terms of sales of domestically assembled vehicles. According to the data released by PAMA (Pakistan Automobiles Manufacturers Association), sales of passenger cars increased by 8.3% on year-on-year basis in August. This is also the first annual growth after 16 months, since the last time car sales were seen increasing Y-o-Y was in March 2019.
Related: FY2019-20: A Nightmare for Car Sales
Sale of 9,885 units was recorded in August 2020 from 9,126 units sold during the same month last year. However, the figure was still lower by 2.3% compared to the sales from July 2020. According to analysts, the central bank has slashed interest rates down to 7% from 13.25% within a little over three months which is encouraging buyers into opting for auto financing.
In August, sales of 1300cc and above car showed an increase of 58.4% to 4,748 units compared with 2,997 units sold during the same month in the previous year. The main reason for the sales increase was the sale of 1,705 new Toyota Yaris during this period. Sales of Toyota Corolla decreased 50% to 867 units as against 1,727 units sold a year earlier, while sales of Honda Civic and City were up 79% to 1,980 from 1,106 units. Suzuki Swift that enjoys its position at the bottom of domestic sales chart since long also saw an increase to 196 cars from 164 cars.
Related: The Toyota Yaris has a Problem…
Suzuki Cultus and Suzuki WagonR under the 1000cc category witnessed an increase in sales by 10.3% to 2,133 as against 1,934 units last year. Under 800cc, sales dropped 28.4% to 3,004 units in August versus 4,195 units during the corresponding period last year. Suzuki’s new Alto saw a decline of 30.5% in sales to 2,389 units from 3,435 units sold during the same month last year.
Among automakers, Honda Atlas recorded the highest increase in sales volume on a year-on-year basis with a 72% rise to 2,258 units. The company managed to sell 1,314 units in the same month of last year. Indus Motor Company enjoyed a 52% growth as sales rose from 2,173 units in August last year to 3,307 units in August 2020. However Pak Suzuki reported a 9% drop in sales to 6,003 units in August 2020 against 6,615 units in August 2019.
Related: Pak Suzuki Suffers from Worst Quarterly Loss
On a month-on-month basis however, all three major carmakers showed a modest performance as sales crawled up only 1%. Pak Suzuki Motor reported the highest increase of 20% in sales on M-o-M basis while sales of Indus Motors and Honda Atlas dropped 18% and 8% respectively.
Kia-Lucky which is not a member of PAMA yet is also enjoying handsome sales as according to analysts the company managed to sell around 1,500 units in the month of August. Reportedly the automaker is also planning to enhance its production to double shifts from January 2021 to meet high customer demand.
A computer animation professional with over 23 years of industry experience having served in leading organizations, TV channels & production facilities in Pakistan. An avid car enthusiast and petrolhead with an affection to deliver quality content to help shape opinions. Formerly written for PakWheels as well as major publications including Dawn. Founder of CarSpiritPK.com
wpDiscuz
