Analysts and industry officials both had predicted a sharp jump in car sales in January, as most people prefer to wait in December to book new car models in the first month of the year. PHOTO: FILE
Local car sales in January jumped by a significant 57% to reach 13,910 units compared to 8,868 units in previous month (December 2013), according to the latest data released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA).
Meanwhile, auto sales including light commercial vehicles, vans and jeeps in the first seven months (July-January) of fiscal year 2013-14 (FY14) also increased to 75,162 units, up 6.8% compared to 70,351 units in the same period last year.
Analysts and industry officials both had predicted a sharp jump in car sales in January, as most people prefer to wait in December to book new car models in the first month of the year.
“The sharp jump in January car sales is not unexpected as the demand for November and December 2013 also shifted to January (people prefer New Year car models),” JS Global Capital analyst Atif Zafar said.
Commenting on the seven-month figure, he said the increase of 7% in overall car sales was perfectly fine and as per market expectations.
“I think car sales in February will decline by 5-10%,” Zafar said, adding there were two reasons for that. First, January sales jumped because of low sales in November and December 2013 and second January sales usually remain high compared to other months.
[infogram url="" height="700"]
Most analysts are predicting an overall increase of 7-8% in car sales in FY14. “Auto sales may reach 145,000 units in FY14, which will be 7% higher year-on-year (YoY) compared to FY13,” Topline Securities said on Tuesday.
According to company-wise data, sales of Pak Suzuki – the country’s largest carmaker – increased by 3% to 42,581 units during seven months of FY14 compared to 41,328 units last year.
However, on monthly basis, the company’s sales picked up to 7,089 units in January, up 18.5% compared to December. The monthly increase is on account of increased sales of Suzuki Ravi, Swift and Mehran.
In July-January FY14, sales of Indus Motor – the second largest carmaker in Pakistan – increased by 5% to 19,171 units as compared to 18,259 units in the same period of FY13.
Improvement in sales was primarily pushed by a 4.8% increase in Toyota Corolla sales to 16,486 units.
However, on monthly basis, Indus sales jumped to 3,992 units in January, up 101% compared to 1,982 units in December.
Sales of Honda Atlas Cars – the smallest carmaker – surged by 19.7% to 12,589 units in seven months of FY14. In January, sales of Honda Cars improved by 297% MoM to 2,600 units – the biggest jump among all three carmakers.
“We expect decent growth trend in car sales to continue in the remaining five months of the current fiscal year,” Topline Securities predicted.
Honda Atlas Cars was the only company that saw its sales jump in the previous fiscal year ended June 30, 2013 with sales of Pak Suzuki and Indus dropping 33% and 31% respectively.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 12th, 2014.
Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1713893627-4/Shredded-10,000-yen-bill-(1)1713893627-4-270x192.webp)
cars prices are too high, with most new cars without immobilisers.