KARACHI, Oct 17: The sales of automobiles were hit last month by uncertainties in domestic market caused by September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States followed by increase in prices.
Assemblers said that NWFP and Balochistan markets have been particularly affected. They also see an uncertain future. Sindh and Punjab are, however, sustaining sales as expected. Car leasing business is also on the decline.
Car sales fell by 4.6 per cent to 3,633 units in September from 3,808 units in August 2001. Sales of bikes were down by one per cent to 9,458 units from 9,549. Similarly, tractor sales dropped by 5.4 per cent to 1,414 units, says figures of Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA).
The September did not go well for Dewan Farooqui Motors, makers of Santro, Shehzore, Spectra, Kia. Increase in the prices by Rs10,000-60,000 per unit from September 1, just 10 days ahead of the attacks followed by uncertain market conditions after September 11, crippled the sales volume.
A total of 189 units of Kia Classic and Spectra were sold in September as compared to 350 units in August, while the sales of Santro Plus fell to 131 units from 293 units. The company rolled out 200 per cent more units of Santro in September.
Honda Atlas Car (City and Civic) also appreciated the prices by Rs20,000 from September 3, but only sales of City fell to 357 units in September from 373 units in August.
Indus Motor Company produced higher volumes of its Toyota cars in September to 636 units from 593 units in August but its sales caved in to 545 units last month from 755 units.
Sales of Toyota cars may post another decline as the company has increased the prices by one to two per cent or Rs15,000-20,000 per unit from October 10. Indus linked the price hike to rupee depreciation against the Japanese yen over the past few months to minimize the impact and maintain sales volume and market leadership. However, the price of Daihatsu Cuore has been slashed by Rs40,000 a month back.
A drop of 17 per cent was registered in sales of 800cc Mehran also to 595 units in last month from August’s 720 units. Alto 1,000cc sales also declined to 278 units from 325 units in August. Only Baleno sales rose by 136 per cent to 300 units in September from 127 units in August.
Leasing companies had also felt the impact of declining car sales last month. The share of car sales through leasing ranges between 42-45 per cent out of total car sales as compared to 20-25 per cent in the last one and a half years.
Sales of trucks (Hinopak, Nissan and Mazda) fell to 63 units last month from 73 units in August, followed by decline of 33.5 per cent in sales of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) to 475 units in September as against 715 units in August.
Only bus sales increased to 108 units last month from 75 units in August. Three companies (Hinopak, Ghandhara Nissan and Mazda) had cut production to 57 units in September from 99 units in August, thus unloading their old stocks.
An executive in a car plant attributed the declining sales in September to the high degree of uncertainty prevailing in the country particularly in Balochistan and NWFP as compared to Sindh and Punjab.
“Our sales have marginally declined in Balochistan and NWFP particularly in Peshawar. The situation after September 11 has slowed down the demand of automobiles,” he said.
To a query about cut in production of units, a number of executives in auto sector said that it depends on arrival of our CKD kits. In case shipments are suspended, then “we will have to review the situation.”
They said favourable strong global and political support is forthcoming and its impact will be seen after a lag of several months and uncertainty will dissolve before the end of this year. They said economic indicators seem to be positive and economy is expected to pick up.
Car sales in July-September 2001 however increased by 28 per cent to 10,485 units from 8,159 units in the same period of 2000. Truck sales in the period witnessed no change to stay at 180 units. A total of 258 buses were sold as compared to 449 units last year, down by 42 per cent. Sales of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) posted a drop of 9.6 per cent to 1,760 units from 1,948 units. A decline of 7.3 per cent was seen in sales of tractor to 4,203 units from 4,535 units. Motorcycle sales increased by 18.5 per cent to 27,564 units from 23,246 units in the same period last year.
A total of 310 four-wheelers were either snatched or theft in September as compared to 296 units in August but the recovery rate in two months ranged between 40 to 42 per cent. However, bike snatching dropped to 433 units in September as compared to 491 units in August, says figures of Citizen Police Liasion Committee.
