Car sales contract 17% to 17,144 units in April

All three major assemblers report depressing figures for April

KARACHI:

Automobile sales fell 17% month-on-month in April 2021 in the wake of slack demand and supply constraints, but in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year, the sector registered a jump in demand.

According to figures released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) on Monday, car sales declined to 17,144 units in April 2021 from 20,801 units in March 2021.

Topline Securities in its report stated that the decline in month-on-month sales came mainly due to the month of Ramazan and supply-side issues. The report added, “To recall, due to countrywide lockdowns imposed by the federal and provincial governments in March-April 2020, no car sales were recorded during April 2020.”

Kia Lucky Motors (non-member of Pama) posted a 16% drop in car sales on a month-on-month basis.

Meanwhile, all three major car assemblers reported depressing figures for April 2021. Honda Atlas Cars recorded the highest decline in car sales by 27% to 2,287 units in April 2021. The company had managed to sell 3,153 units in the previous month.

Indus Motor Company registered a decline of 20% in sales, which dropped from 6,695 units in March 2021 to 5,355 units in April 2021. Meanwhile, Pak Suzuki Motor reported a 15% fall in sales to 8,606 units in April 2021 against 10,161 units in March 2021.

On the other hand, Hyundai Nishat sales increased by 24% to 896 units in the month under review primarily due to a massive surge of 509% in Elantra sales.

In the motorbike category, Atlas Honda registered sales of 115,001 units in April 2021, down 8% month-on-month. However, in the first 10 months of ongoing fiscal year 2020-21, sales increased by 39% year-on-year. Tractor sales dipped 19% to 4,501 units in April 2021 compared to 5,531 units in March 2021. On a year-on-year basis, they surged 120% as a total of 2,049 tractors were sold during the same month of previous year.

Car sales in the first 10 months (Jul-Apr) of the ongoing fiscal year registered a rise of 54%. Automobile sales during the 10-month period came in at 151,178 units against 97,900 units in the corresponding period of last year.

Indus Motor Company managed to outperform the peers during the Jul-Apr period of fiscal year 2020-21 with a 90% growth in sales. The company sold 48,025 units in the 10-month period compared to 25,300 units in the same period of last year. It was followed by Honda Atlas Cars with a 71% growth in sales at 23,985 units. Pak Suzuki Motor Company’s sales expanded 28% in the first 10 months of FY21 as the company sold 74,619 cars as compared to 58,303 units in the same period of last year.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2021.

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