Despite a month-on-month decrease in sales of automobiles in December 2020, the sector recorded a jump in demand on a year-on-year basis.
According to figures released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) on Monday, sales of automobiles rose 15% to 13,870 units in December 2020 compared to 12,069 units in the same month of 2019.
“If we include sales of KIA Lucky Motor Corporation, which is not a member of PAMA, the number stands at around 20% on a year-on-year basis,” Topline Research said in a report.
Arif Habib Limited analyst Arsalan Hanif said Toyota Yaris had not been released in Pakistan during the corresponding month of 2019 and if its sales figures were excluded, then not much growth would be reflected in automobile sales.
“That is why launch of a new car model is beneficial for the entire industry as it increases the overall automobile sales figure,” he said.
PAMA data revealed that Indus Motor Company and Honda Atlas Cars registered 72% and 76% increase in car sales respectively on a year-on-year basis. Indus Motor sold 4,001 vehicles last month while Honda Atlas Cars sold 1,764 units.
Toyota Corolla sales fell 14% year-on-year as the company was planning to launch Corolla X variant, he said.
On the other hand, Pak Suzuki Motor Company’s sales declined 13% year-on-year to 7,594 units in December 2020.
“Besides, Hyundai sales grew 8% month-on-month, which is encouraging as new entrants are grabbing market share from the existing players,” said Hanif.
“KIA Lucky Motor sold around 600 units in December 2020 as per our channel checks,” Topline Securities analyst Fawad Basir said. “As expected, car sales declined 4% month-on-month in December 2020,” he pointed out.
The decline was driven by Honda (down 21%) and Indus Motor (down 19%) as the new year effect kicked in, he said.
Universal Brushware Investments analyst Nabeel Dochki said volumes in December decreased due to the seasonal impact as people preferred to buy cars which would be registered in the new year as opposed to the outgoing year.
He added that KIA could only manage to sell 600 units in December 2020.
Half-year figures
Automobile sales surged 18% during the first half of fiscal year 2020-21, said the Topline report.
From July-December 2020, the jump in sales was witnessed due to a year-on-year surge in sales of Indus Motor (84%) and Honda Atlas Cars (68%), said Hanif.
“We expect demand for cars to grow stronger owing to low interest rates and revival of economic activity,” said Basir.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 12th, 2021.
Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ