KARACHI: Declining Suzuki Mehran and Bolan sales, multiple price hikes, high interest rates and rising petrol prices slowed down overall auto sales of locally manufactured vehicles in April as well as in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, according to latest data released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA).

The data released on Monday showed that auto sales in April plunged to 17,076 from 19,877 units in March while 10MFY19 ended flat at 177,435 versus 182,911 units.

During the first 10 months of the fiscal year, sales of Honda Civic and City faded to 34,819 from 36,119 units while those of Toyota Corolla, Suzuki Cultus and Suzuki Wagon R soared to 48,245, 19,229 and 27,223 units from 43,190, 17,709 and 23,824 units respectively.

Pak Suzuki Motor Company Limited finally closed down production of Suzuki Mehran model as per figures released by the PAMA as the company had already its decision to stop production. Buyers had shifted to other models resulting in sales of Mehran declining to 29,140 units compared to 39,450 units during the same period last year. Sales of Bolan also fell to 15,016 from 18,494 units. Mehran and Bolan usually made up for the major chunk of total auto sales in the country.

The last 10 months also ended on negative note for Toyota Fortuner and Honda BR-V as sales plunged to 2,204 and 4,205 units from 3,264 and 7,497 units respectively.

Suzuki Ravi struggled at 15,587 units compared to 18,473 units whereas sales of Toyota Hilux came down to 4,855 in the last 10 months from 6,156 units.

Truck sales, considered as a barometer of local and foreign trade, remained sluggish as only 5,120 units were sold in the last 10 months compared to 7,703 units, while bus sales improved to 780 from 585 units.

Tractor sales were marred by persistent downward trend as Fiat and Massey Ferguson stood at 15,872 and 26,950 units from 23,829 and 36,184 units respectively in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.

Sales of two-wheelers market leader Honda fell to 928,931 units in 10FY19 from 953,556 units while those of Suzuki and Yamaha increased to 19,669 and 19,999 units from 17,811 and 17,397 units respectively in July-April 2017-2018.

An analyst at the Top Line Securities said the dip in April sales was due to the continuous price hikes by the all assemblers which is having its impact on auto data while economic slowdown also contributed to declining sales.

During the cumulative period under review, sales were down due to frequent changes in filer and non-filer regulations, slowing auto financing amid high interest rates since January 2018.

A car dealer said the hike in federal excise duty by 10 per cent also impacted sales of 1,700cc and above vehicles.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2019