KARACHI: Sales of locally assembled cars, light commercial vehicles, vans and jeeps exhibited a 23 per cent year-on-year growth to 170,354 units despite an increase in their prices.

According to figures released by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (Pama), sales in February stood at 22,654 units, up 15pc as 1Q of calendar year is generally a robust period for auto sales.

The change in import procedure, demand from online ride-hailing services and availability of auto finance at lower rates contributed to strong demand in outgoing month, said Rai Omar Basharat of Topline Securities.

Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd (PSMCL) sales rocketed 25pc year-on-year in February as price-conscious models Mehran, up 30pc year-on-year, WagonR 27pc, and Cultus 23pc all showed strong sales growth. The 8MFY18 sales were up 30pc year-on-year to 96,062 units.

Honda’s car sales clocked in at 4,501 units, up 20pc (plus 3pc month-on-month), while 8MFY18 sales grew by 38pc to 33,669 units due to success of recently revamped City and rebound in sales of BRV up 20pc month-on-month.

Toyota lagged behind with a decrease of 8pc/5pc, YoY/MoMm due to capacity constraints, though 8MFY18 units sales were up 2pc YoY.

Tractor sales grew by 14pc in February. Al-Ghazi Tractors outperformed, exhibiting a 40pc growth. During 8MFY18 tractor sales reached 44,627 units, up 40pc.

Total truck sales surged to 5,859 units in July-Feb 2017-18 from 4,677 units in same period last fiscal. Bus sales dropped to 420 units from 765 units.

Two- and three-wheeler sales for Feb 2018 went up by 18pc year-on-year due to rising disposable income of lower middle class, while 8MFY18 sales were up 19pc year-on-year to 1.258 million units.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2018