Car sales, production rise sharply in H1
KARACHI: The local production of cars has registered a growth of 29.8 percent in the first half of the current fiscal year (July-Dec) to 56,671 units while sales of cars rose 31.8 percent to 57,010 units during the period under review.
According to official data compiled by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA), production of cars stood at 11,327 units in December, up 41.1 percent compared to 8,023 units in November.
“Low interest rates offered by different financial institutions, introduction of new models, and overall economic growth have resulted in a sharp increase in auto demand in 2004,” said Abdul Azeem, analyst at Invest Capital and Securities.
In December Indus motor produced 2,146 units of Toyota Corolla 1600cc, up 55 percent compared to November, while its sales rose 76 percent to 2,105 units compared to 1,197 units in November.
The production of Honda Civic in December also increased sharply to 1,616 units, showing a rise o f 98 percent compared to 815 units produced November, the data said. Likewise, sales of Honda civic remained at 1,620 units in December compared to 843 units of November.
In 1000cc-category, the production of Suzuki Cultus was the highest in December at 1,313 units, up 56.1 percent from 841 units in November. The company sold out 1,054 units in December against 841 units in November, according to the data. In 800cc-category, Suzuki Mehran recorded highest-ever production at 2,964 units in December, up 33 percent from 2,228 units in November.
Production of large vehicles: Similarly, a total of 992 trucks were produced in the period from July to December, out of which 1,083 were sold. During the period production of buses remained at 906 units, out of which only 674 were sold, the data said. During the period 9,771 units of light commercial vehicles (LCV) were sold out of a total 10,001 units, which were produced during the period. The sales and production of farm tractors registered a sharp growth during the period under review with production of 21,152 units and sales of 20,668 units.
Motorcycles: According to the data, production of motorcycles during the period under review stood at 198,045 units whereas sales remained at 193,875 units. Industry officials said with the arrival of Chinese technology, motorcycles’ production and sales have registered a sharp rise and they estimate that the trend would continue in the future.
They said cheap financing from banks and leasing companies is a major factor behind rising demand of cars, while companies have almost double their production to fulfil demand. But analysts said local production will stay short of demand despite increase in the production of capacity of different assemblers.
“The demand of small car is increasing rapidly but its import price is not comparative owing to higher depreciation cost,” he said. Private motor dealers have imported 3,000 units of different models during the period under review. They would import approximately another 6,000 vehicles in the next six months, a dealer said. Sector analysts said the local car manufacturers have slowly begun to increase their production capacities owing to the government pressure. The Indus Motors has planned to increase its production capacity to up to 42,000 units in 2005 while Suzuki plans to enhance its production capacity to 84,000 units in 2005, they added. —Arshad Hussain