Pakistan’s car sales surge 96% in December

KARACHI: The sales of locally-manufactured cars surged 96 per cent in December 2021, mainly aggressive buying during the month on the expectation of price increase.

According to the data released by the Pakistan Auto Manufacturers Association (Pama) on Tuesday, the total car sales grew to 27,331 units during December 2021, compared with 13,956 units in the same month of the last year.

Analysts at Topline Securities said the car sales generally slowed down in December, as the people wait for the start of the New Year for the purchase of vehicles with the New Year registration.

“This time strong sales increase was due to pre-buying on [the] expectations of price increase by [the] auto-assemblers.”

The total sales of the locally-assembled cars also recorded 70 per cent growth to 135,966 units during the first half (July-December) of the current fiscal year, compared with 79,954 units in the same half of the last fiscal year.

The analysts attributed the growth to macro recovery and single-digit interest rates.

Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) and Honda Atlas Car (HCAR) posted strong numbers, registering an increase of 82 per cent and 56 per cent MoM rise, respectively.

The anticipation of price increase, pent up demand due to the production issues for PSMC and strong Honda City sales drove the overall sales of these companies.

Indus Motors (INDU) sales were down 2 per cent MoM in December 2021 due to lower Fortuner and Hilux sales.

The motorbike sales went down 10 per cent YoY and 15 per cent MoM in December 2021. In the first half of the current fiscal year, the bike sales remained strong, up 18 per cent YoY.

The sales of trucks and buses also fell 2 per cent YoY and -37 per cent MoM in December 2021, while it was up 57 per cent YoY in the first half of the current fiscal year led by increased transportation activities.