KARACHI: Sales of locally produced cars were down 0.5 per cent to 121,275 units in July-February as compared to the same period a year earlier.

However, February sales were down six per cent year-on-year to 17,119, the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) said.

Combined sales of Honda Civic and City climbed nearly 54pc to 24,325 during the eight-month period while Toyota Corolla sales dropped 6.7pc to 35,501.

Suzuki Swift sales rose 10pc to 2,873 units and that of WagonR by nearly 80pc to 10,812 units. Sales of Cultus, whose new model is coming out in the current quarter, increased marginally to 10,220 units, whereas Mehran sales were flat at 24,462. In contrast, Bolan sales plummeted 44pc to 13,281 after the end of Punjab Taxi Scheme.

In light commercial vehicle, vans and jeeps, sales of Toyota Fortuner rose to 568 from 368 units a year ago while there was nil production and sales of Sigma Defender as compared to 191 and 172 units in the same period of the preceding fiscal year.

Sales of Suzuki Ravi — another beneficiary of the Punjab Taxi Scheme — nearly halved to 12,519.

The truck segment continued to perform well, with overall sales hitting 4,677 units (Hino, Nissan, Isuzu and Master) from 3,194 units while total bus sales rose to 765 from 609 units.

Sales of tractors (Fiat, Massey Ferguson and Orient IMT) skyrocketed 80pc year-on-year to 31,955 units.

Hashim Sohail of Topline Securities expects car sales, including imports of 60,000 units, to reach 270,000 units in the current fiscal year. He said sales in February came down due to fewer working days.

The Indus Motor Company Ltd witnessed contraction during July-February due to operational issues. The waiting period for Toyota Fortuner is six months with a premium touching Rs500,000, he said.

Honda Atlas Cars sales continued to depict robust trend. The company recently initiated bookings for newly launched BR-V and around 2,000 vehicles have already been booked.

Tractor sales are showing positive trend on the back of lower retail price (due to reduced GST) and better crop yield. Continuation of fertiliser subsidy would further support liquidity among farmers.

Meanwhile, sales of Honda bikes rose by 18pc to 626,040, Pak Suzuki by 3pc to 12,037, and that of DYL Motorcycles by 3.4pc to 5,264 units. Besides, United sold 214,379 bikes in the period under review, a rise of 24pc year-on-year.

In contrast, Yamaha bike sales fell sharply by 31pc to 7,738 units.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2017