Honda Atlas posts its highest growth, but fails to overtake leaders

Sales of tractors post whopping increase of 115% with trucks, buses following suit

KARACHI: Contrary to analysts’ expectations, sales of locally assembled vehicles (including jeeps and light commercial vehicles) jumped to 22,095 units in August 2017.

This reflects an increase of 25% from 17,653 units sold in August 2016, according to latest data released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) on Tuesday.

A Topline Securities’ report said that the auto sales figure was above its estimates, attributing the increase to a stream of new models and automotive facelifts being introduced by major players in the industry.



Car sales also showed significant increase in July 2017, the first month of fiscal year 2017-18. In July 2017 sales of locally assembled vehicles, including jeeps and light commercial vehicles, jumped to 19,577 units, up 41% compared to 13,932 units in the same month of 2016.

Sales of Honda Atlas outperformed peers, posting 47% year-on-year growth.

With 4,666 units, this month has been the best in terms of absolute sales in the company’s history. Successful introduction of a facelift for its Civic brand and Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) variant BR-V propelled the sales.

CREATIVE COMMONS

Sales of Pak Suzuki Motor Company, the largest car selling company in Pakistan, have increased by 32%year-on-year in August 2017. Strong sales of Wagon-R and latest model of Cultus, up 75% and 69% year-on-year respectively, boosted sales for the company.

Sales of Suzuki Mehran also jumped 28% year-on-year, supporting the company’s overall sales growth.

Indus Motors, the makers of Toyota Corolla in Pakistan, sold 5,541 units reflecting an increase of 2% year-on-year.

The company’s focus remained on production of higher-margin Toyota Fortuner whose sales showed a stellar growth of 284% year-on-year. Moreover, buyers have resumed purchase of Corollas which has shown year-on-year growth of 5% after the introduction of the facelift model.



Tractor sales continued to exhibit growth as well with sales growing by 115% year-on-year in August 2017. AL Ghazi Tractors (AGTL) has been the top performer in this segment with robust monthly sales growth of 26%.

Lower General Sales Tax (GST), improving crop yield due to Punjab government’s Kisan Package and continuation of fertiliser subsidy to improve farmers purchasing power are some of the main factors that are expected to push overall tractor sales up in future.

Moreover, in budget fiscal year 2018, the Sindh government also set aside Rs2 billion as subsidy for farmers on tractor purchase. Truck and bus sales in August 2017 remained strong, growing by 20% year-on-year. This trend is expected to continue, fueled by China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)-led growth, higher road connectivity, lower financing rate and change and enforcement of axle-load-limit per truck on highways by National Highway Authority (NHA).

Similarly, two and three-wheeler sales for August 2017 have grown strongly 28% year-on-year due to rising disposable income of lower middle classes, the report added.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2017.

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