KARACHI: The car sales have dropped 39 per cent during the first seven months (July-January) 2022/23 due to unavailability of the complete-knocked down (CKD) kits.

The total sales recorded at 94,983 units during the first seven months of the current fiscal year, compared with 156,586 units in the same period of the last fiscal year, according to the data released by the Pakistan Auto Manufacturers Association (PAMA).

Analysts at Topline Securities said the total car sales, including sales of non-PAMA members, clocked-in at around 11,500 units, down 37 per cent on a month-on-month (MoM) basis, primarily led by Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) due to unavailability of the CKD parts, amid letters of credit (LCs) issue, which led to non-production days.

On a year-on year (YoY) basis, the weak demand dynamics was again evident from a 47 per cent YoY fall in the industry sales in January 2023, also taking the seven months of FY23 decline to 39 per cent YoY. This is primarily attributable to the escalating car prices, expensive auto financing and low purchasing power of the consumers.

The PSMC recorded a decline of 74 per cent MoM and 67 per cent YoY to 2,946 units, which is the lowest sales since April 2020, where the company recorded zero sales due to the Covid-19-related shutdown.

Indus Motors (INDU) reported an increase of 26 per cent MoM to 3,570 units; followed by Honda Car (HCAR) sales of 30 per cent YoY to 2,704 units in January 2023.

Hyundai sales went up 81 per cent MoM, where Tucson went up 69 per cent MoM to 620 units and Sonata went up 241 per cent MoM to 191 units in January 2023.

Among the tractors, the Millat Tractors Limited (MTL) recorded a jump of 4x MoM to 2,203 units; followed by Al Ghazi Tractors Limited (AGTL), which recorded 2x MoM increase in the sales to 1,203 units in January 2023, primarily due to the easing of the production issues.

This takes the total tractor industry sales to 14,919 units in the seven months of FY23, down 53 per cent YoY due to floods, plants shutdown, lower consumer buying power and higher prices.

Similarly, motorbike sales increased 5 per cent MoM, while down 29 per cent YoY in January 2023. Atlas Honda (ATHL) recorded sales of 90k units, up 6 per cent MoM, while it went down 25 per cent YoY.

The trucks and buses sales increased 64 per cent MoM, while these went down 40 per cent YoY to 470 units in January 2023. This takes the seven months of FY23 sales to 2,417 units, down 37 per cent YoY, primarily due to a drop in the transportation activities and a slowdown in the overall economy.

Also Read

Rolls-Royce achieves record car sales in ‘phenomenal’ 2022

British super-luxury automobile manufacturers record 6,021 global deliveries in 2022. Rolls Royce's...