KARACHI, Sept 12: The cumulative automobile sales (cars and light commercial vehicles) fell by 50 per cent during July-August 2008-2009 to 16,997 units as compared to 33,960 units in the same period of the last fiscal year.

On a month-on-month basis, the story was a bit different as unit sales of cars and LCVs rose by 29 per cent to 9,579 units in August 2008 as compared to 7,418 units in July 2008.

If only car sales are taken, the figure fell by 60 per cent to 11,177 units in July-August 2008-2009 from 28,225 units in the same period of 2007-2008.

On month-on-month basis, car sales jumped by 36 per cent to 6,433 units in August from 4,744 units in July 2008, said Bilal Hameed, an analyst at the JS Research.

Imposition of five per cent federal excise duty on sale of vehicles, increase in sales tax by one per cent and inflationary pressure on economy remained key issues behind the decline in sales, said the analyst in his report based on figures released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA).

The sale increase in August 2008 over July 2008 was mainly due to resumption of production by Toyota Corolla after the launch of a new model.

Moreover, Pak-Suzuki also resumed full production after a scheduled plant shutdown in July 2008.