Year 2021 ended on a high note for local automakers as sales of passenger cars assembled locally witnessed an unexpected surge, opposed to usually when sales normally take a hit towards the end of the year as buyers generally prefer New Year purchasing over the last month of an outgoing year.
Bear in mind the sales numbers in PAMA data are actually ‘bookings’, when an automaker receives payment of a car, its considered as sold. Contrary to other markets where deliveries are actually counted as sales. So as per the data, car bookings in December 2021 recorded a staggering growth of 97% to 27,331 units compared to 13,870 units sold in December a year earlier.
On month-on-month basis, December sales stood at 24,462 units from 15,351 units in November 2021, rendering a 59% improvement. The total passenger car sales swelled by 71.2% to 114,765 units in 1HFY22 from 67,026 units in 1HFY21.
Despite the fact that auto assemblers gave a massive push to car prices in November 2021 with a second phase increase to be implemented from 1st January 2022, analysts believe consumers booked cars in anticipation of another hike in prices following the approval of mini-budget, which brings added duties & taxes on vehicles, and that created a balance in the market. Key takes from the December 2021 sales data are:
- Honda Atlas recorded a 56% month-on-month surge with 4,708 units sold for City and Civic combined & 303 units of BR-V. The company also claims to have sold the highest number of City sedan in December 2021 without disclosing its individual numbers.
- Pak Suzuki witnessed record sales again with 15,503 units sold in a month, the highest since its inception.
- 9,195 units of 660cc Alto were sold in December, the highest individual number ever for any locally assembled model.
- With 6,214 units, Indus Motor Company (IMC) witnessed a 2% decline but still the combined number of Corolla and Yaris stood 17% higher than that of City & Civic with 5,151 units. In addition, 1,063 units of Hilux and Fortuner were sold in December 2021.
- Toyota Corolla once again outpaced Yaris by a huge margin, this time selling 3,180 units which is 60% more compared to 1,971 units of the latter, thus perfectly amplifying its reputation as the bestselling sedan of Pakistan.
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
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