PHOTO: FILE
KARACHI: Domestic car assemblers, who are experiencing low sales of new cars, are embarking on a fresh drive to attract or at least keep their loyal customers. An example of this has come from Pak Suzuki Motor Company which is going to present certified used Suzuki vehicles for sale – a relatively unfamiliar idea in Pakistan.
Pak Suzuki will put on sale different models of Suzuki vehicles at the Karachi Expo Centre on Sunday. When approached, the company just confirmed that it is going to organise the event, but did not share further details like how many cars they are going to present, types of models, price tags, etc.
“It seems that the company is equally focusing on its customer base in the second-hand car market,” Atif Zafar, an analyst at brokerage house JS Global Capital, said. “What is clear from the outset is that Suzuki customers will be more satisfied with the company’s certified used cars because people tend to trust companies more than car dealers.”
Pak Suzuki has been facing challenges both on sales and profitability fronts, so this move should not take anybody by surprise, he added.
Local car assemblers have faced uneasy times, especially in the last couple of months, because of influx of imported used Japanese cars. Though the government has reduced the age limit for import of used cars from five to three years, sales of locally assembled cars have failed to pick up pace since mid-December last year.
Car assemblers are perturbed about high sales of imported used cars despite reduction in the age limit for imported cars, Sarfaraz Abbasi, an analyst at brokerage house Summit Capital, said.
This time, Pak Suzuki is going to target the secondary market that has different market dynamics, he said, adding the result of this company drive will mostly depend on what prices it is asking for the certified vehicles.
Last fiscal year 2011-12, Pakistan imported around 55,000 used cars and has already imported over 40,000 used vehicles in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, according to car importers.
Locally assembled auto sales (cars and light commercial vehicles) clocked in at 12,628 units in February this year, down 16% compared to a year earlier and 1% compared to the previous month. Sales in eight months (July-February 2012-13) stood at 82,977 vehicles, down 26% year-on-year.
Two major car producers, Pak Suzuki and Indus Motor, recorded flat sales compared to the previous month.
Sales of Pak Suzuki have stabilised, with flat sales at 7,000 units in February. However, considering the presence of ample stocks of imported used cars in showrooms, sales have yet to depict a strong sequential uptick, AKD Research recently said in its report.
Indus Motor Company recorded sales of 3,588 units in February, up 0.8% month-on-month, supported by Corolla sales at 3,300 units, up 1.2% month-on-month, but Hilux sales dropped 4.9% to 251 units.
Honda Atlas Cars recorded sales of 2,015 units in February, lower by 9.2% MoM, as Civic and City sales fell 8% and 10% MoM, respectively.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2013.
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A PK assembled car is based on obsolete engine and transmission technology making huge profits for local cartel. An imported used car even 5 years old has more modern engines, transmissions and other important safety features. A piece of junk remains piece of junk even it is approved used car. Unless there is local manufacturing of all parts of a car it is not benefiting the local economy in jobs etc.
@ PAk Suzuki
You Mehran costs 7 lac. That car alone is to me a crime against humanity. Dump Mehran and focus more on successes of swift/cultus. Increase its features and lower its price a bit. you will see the demand increase for your car.
Its sad that none of these newspaper report the accurate story due to the strong automobile mafia in Pakistan. The main reason why the automobile sale has gone down in Pakistan is because the Cuore and the Suzuki Alto are no longer in production. No other reason. So please get your facts straight before reporting this propaganda in favor of the Automobile industry.
Every automotive company is after looting the customers! why don't they provide quality cars like japanese do? A daihatsu coure now costs around Rs 900,000, do you think it's worth this amount of money? now compare this car with the japanese imported Toyota passo which comes in the same price range and is way better than coure, in fact there is no comparison! be it in terms of size, performance or safety. This is just one example, there are now hundreds of imported quality cars which give value for money to the people. Our local car manufacturers need a reality check before it gets too late!
@Reader1: They are doing what is easy and cheap. Only if that approach fails will they try to do what is hard and possibly expensive like investing in new technology to reduce cost of production. So far they have had no reason to do that. The government is happy to protect them from any real competition.
Why don't local car manufacturers focus more on improving quality of their vehicles and reducing cost of production instead of always complaining about influx of imports.