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The overall sales of cars, LCVs, jeeps and pickups in Pakistan plunged 47 per cent to 109,466 units during the first nine months of the current fiscal year from 2,05,452 units in the same period last year.
Despite a month-on-month jump of 61 per cent in March to 9,351 units, the auto sales dropped amid rising prices, expensive financing and plant shutdowns during 9MFY23, reports Dawn.
The March sales were 66 per cent lower when compared with 27,202 units sold in March 2022.
As per the data issued by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers (PAMA), truck sales came down by 46 per cent to 279 units in March from 521 in February, while it stood at 500 units in March 2022.
As a result, 9MFY23 truck sales dropped 37 per cent to 2,825 against 4,493 units in 9MFY22.
Only 29 buses were sold in March as compared to 136 in February and 65 in March, indicating a month-on-month drop of 79 per cent and 55 per cent YoY. However, with low monthly sales, the overall 9MFY23 bus sales soared to 557 units from 458 units, up by 22 per cent.
Sales of tractors, the country’s barometer of agriculture indicators, decreased 49 per cent to 21,233 units as compared to 41,603 units in Fy22. With sales of 2,984 units in March, the MoM and YoY decline was 10 per cent and 47 per cent respectively.
Total two-wheeler sales clocked into 9,08,555 units, down by 33 per cent from 1.348 million during 9MFY22. In March, bike sales stood at 83,149 units, showing a fall of 17 per cent on MoM and 43 per cent on YoY.
Three-wheeler sales in March were 1,158 units, which was 54 per cent and 71 per cent low on MoM and YoY. Meanwhile, a drop of 48 per cent was recorded in overall three-wheeler sales in 9MFY23 to 16,148 units as compared to 31,231 units in FY22.
Honda Atlas Cars Limited suffered a blow of low sales of 835 in March, down by 49 per cent MoM and 77pc YoY, while 9MFY23 sales were down by 46 per cent to 16,278 units.
Despite a 61 per cent fall in monthly sales to 118 units, Sazgar Engineering sold 1,361 units in 9MFY22 against 170 units during FY22.
Pak Suzuki Motor Company Limited (PSMCL) sales swelled to 5,628 in March from 978 in February but remained 63 per cent lower on YoY basis. The overall sales of PSMCL plunged by 47 per cent to 57,922 units in July-March FY23 from 1,09,419 units last year.
Indus Motor Company (IMC), the assembler of Toyota vehicles, sold 6 per cent more vehicles in March to 1,912 units from 1,803 in February but posted a YoY fall of 73 per cent.
Sales of Atlas Honda Limited (AHL), the assembler of two-wheelers, came down by 16 per cent to 71,827 units from 85,047 in February while it dropped 38 per cent on YoY basis. As a result, the overall bike sales of AHL stood at 7,69,691 in 9MFY23 versus 1,018 million in the same period last fiscal.
Sunny Kumar of Topline Securities said sales of cars, LCVs, jeeps and pickups in March recovered due to improved availability of completely knocked down (CKD) kits due to eased LCs issues. However, its 9MFY23 sales remained bearish due to escalating prices, unavailability of completely knocked-down kits, unproductive days, costly auto financing due to soaring interest rates and the low purchasing power of consumers.
