May 12, 2022 (MLN): The passenger car sales in April remained under pressure with consumers preferring to put off their purchases due to price hikes led by PKR depreciation, higher interest rates, higher taxes coupled with reduced working hours during Ramadan.
Passenger car sales observed a decline of 18% MoM during April 2022, clocking in at 18,625 units as opposed to 22,799 units sold in March 2022, the monthly data from the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) showed on Thursday.
The major industry players i.e, INDU, PSMC and HCAR experienced a fall in volumes on a sequential basis as INDU witnessed a decrease of 18% MoM to 5,775 units in April 2022. HCAR also showed a negative growth of 28% with monthly sales of 2,629 units, while the sales of PSMC during the said period stood at 12,639 units, depicting a drop of 16% MoM.
Going by the details made available by PAMA, the total production of passenger cars was recorded at 18,254 units in April 2022.
On a yearly basis, car sales saw an upsurge of 29% YoY when compared to 14,435 units sold in April 2021.
This took 10MFY22 volumes to 191,237 units, recording robust growth of 51% YoY driven by the pickup in overall economic activity during the ongoing fiscal year.
In April 2022, the '1300 cc and above' category took a lead as auto sales were recorded at 9,188 units. Within this category, Toyota Corolla and Yaris registered sales of 4117 units, showing a decrease of 23.7% on a sequential basis, followed by Suzuki Swift with 2,273 units. Honda Cars (Civic and City) recorded sales at 2,265 units, which plunged by 31% MoM.
The second-highest number of sales was made within the 'below 1000 cc' category, clocking in at 5,869 units, down by 47% MoM. Segment-wise, Suzuki Alto recorded the highest sales at 5,009 units, followed by Suzuki Bolan which sold 860 units in the said month.
The ‘1000cc' category took the third spot as the units sold in April 2022 were 3,568. In terms of growth, the volumetric sales surged by 48% MoM and 29% YoY. Within this category, Suzuki WagonR recorded the highest sales at 1,823 units, followed by Suzuki Cultus which sold 1,745 units.
Going forward, the multiple price hikes announced by auto assemblers (11%-18% during 3QFY22) is expected to bring a sequential improvement to the sector’s margins. However, with some resistance coming from new model launches (Civic & Swift), we anticipate a declining trend in overall auto sales volume for the remaining part of the year as the impact of interest rates and higher cost-led price hikes weighs in, Wasil Zaman at JS Global said.
Meanwhile, the sales of trucks were recorded at 397 units in April 2022. Isuzu emerged as the best-selling truck, with sales of around 210 units during the month, followed by MASTER with 105 units. HINO made sales of 82 units.
While the overall sale of buses decreased by 17% MoM during the review month to clock in at 54 units. Within this segment, Master made the maximum sales at 41 units while HINO and Isuzu recorded sales of 6 and 7 units, respectively.
According to the data, LCVs, Vans, and Jeeps observed sales of 3,745 units, showing a reduction of 14% MoM during the period under review.
Copyright Mettis Link News
32681
