KARACHI: The ongoing lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the country has badly hit car sales which went down from 10,345 units in February to 5,796 units in March.

The overall car sales in 9MFY20 plunged by 47 per cent to 85,330 units as against 160,359 units in same period last year. The total car sales in March 2019 were an impressive 19,897 units.

From July 2019 to second week of March this year, car sales remained flat owing to high interest rates, rising car prices on account of rupee devaluation against the dollar, imposition of additional custom duty, additional sales tax and federal excise duty (FED) of 2.5-7.5pc on different engine capacity.

The entire auto sector is closed since the second week of March and will reopen on April 14, as per government’s directives. The State Bank has cut interest rate to revive car sales through bank financing. However, the rupee’s continuous slide is making a case for assemblers to further jack up prices on account of rising cost of parts imports.

According to the figures of Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA), Suzuki WagonR continued to remain the top loser with 75pc fall in sales to 6,122 units in 9MFY20. The March sales came down to 310 units from 699 units in February.

The second biggest sale loss of 67pc was witnessed in Suzuki Bolan with total 4,467 units, while its March sales dropped to 394 from 719 units in February.

Honda’s Civic and City sales suffered the third highest sales loss with 63pc plunge to 11,989 units in the last nine months of current fiscal year. The combine sales for the two models in March stood lower at 1,327 versus 1,868 in February.

Suzuki Swift and Toyota Corolla sales came down by 57pc and 51pc to 1,548 and 20,991 units respectively. Swift and Corolla sales in March were 82 and 2,089 units as compared to 186 and 3,715 units in February.

Suzuki Cultus registered 38pc less sales to 10,555 units in 9MFY20 while its March sales posted a massive drop to 710 units from 1,535 units in February.

Total truck (Hino, Isuzu, Master and JAC) sales, the barometer of economic activities, stood 42pc lower to 2,733 units in the same period. 298 units were sold in March as compared to 338 units in February.

Only 44 buses (Hino, Isuzu and Master) were sold in March as compared to 64 units in February while nine months of current fiscal ended with 25.6pc drop to 532 units.

Sale of Toyota Fortuner decreased by 47pc to 1,071 units in 9MFY20. Honda BR-V closed its nine months sales with 2,069 units, down by 44pc.

Suzuki Ravi and Toyota Hilix sales posted negative growth of 59pc and 29pc to 5,953 and 3,238 units while JAC and D-Max brands sales stood at 333 and 436, down by 34pc and 88pc, respectively, in 9MFY20.

Tractors sales, dubbed as agricultural growth indicators, also remained slim. Fiat and Massey Ferguson sales plummeted by 37pc and 38pc to 8,733 and 14,611 units.

In two- and three-wheelers segment, Honda and Suzuki sales declined by 7pc and 13pc to 768,974 units and 15,637 units while Yamaha sales, despite challenging business environment, remained unchanged at 18,142 units.

United Auto Motorcycles sold 14pc less bikes with 242,387 units, while its rickshaw sales came down by 48pc to 4,751 units in 9MFY20.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2020

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