With the exception of the bus market, the auto industry saw a sharp fall in sales during the first half of 2022–23, with a range of 28.4-56.5%.
Total car sales decreased by 40% from 114,774 units in the same time the previous year to 68,900 units in July through December.
The lack of purchasing power was a result of rising prices and high-interest rates that made leasing more expensive, restrictions on auto financing, the refusal of lenders to open letters of credit, a shortage of parts that caused various assemblers to stop production, late deliveries for Japanese models, and other factors.
Customers also slowed down buying cars as a result of the new model year, which caused the number of cars sold in December 2022 to fall from 15,432 units in November to 13,768.
According to data from Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers (PAMA), sales of the Toyota Corolla and Yaris plunged dramatically, dropping from 29,126 units in 6MFY22 to 12,065 units. But from 1,933 in November, the monthly sales slightly decreased to 1,879 in December.
Sales of the Honda Civic/City decreased by 49%, from 17,620 units to 8,906 units, in December, compared to 1,509 units in November.
Nevertheless, despite a dip in December sales to 1,428 from 2,242 units in November, the new Suzuki Swift model reported strong sales of 7,136 units from 497 units in 1HFY22. Hyundai Elantra sales came down by 15pc to 1,297 in the last six months from 1,508 units while its December sales soared to 142 from 101 units in November. Hyundai Sonata sales stood at 551 units showing a drop of 56pc from 1,240 in July-Dec FY22.
For Pak Suzuki, the first half of FY23 in the 1,000cc segment was disappointing as sales of the Suzuki Cultus and WagonR fell by 65 and 68 percent, respectively, to 5,143 and 3,769 units in 6MFY23 from 14,516 and 11,629 units in the same period previous year. WagonR sales increased to 872 from 716 units in the aforementioned period, while Cultus sales decreased to 1,057 from 1,134 units in December.
Bolan sales decreased by 61 percent to 2,436 units from 6,241 units in 6MFY22, while Suzuki Alto660cc sales decreased by 15 percent to 27,614 units in 6MFY23 from 32,388. Sales of the Alto and Bolan were 6,898 and 464 in December 2022 as opposed to 7,252 and 503 units in November.
Total Jeeps and Pickups sales remained 28.4pc lower than 15,188 in 6MFY23 as compared to 21,202 units in the same period of last fiscal year, while December 2022 sales increased to 3,216 units from 3,099 units in November. In the current crisis in the auto sector, Hyundai Tucson depicted a 69pc jump in sales to 2,230 in 6MFY23 versus 1,321 units in the same period last fiscal year due to discounts on registration and immediate delivery options.
Sales of the recently released HR-V and Honda BR-V increased by 14% to 2,197 units from 1,928 units. Suzuki Ravi sales dropped by 69 percent to 2,273 units from 7,432 units in the first half of FY23, after a 30 percent decline in sales of the Toyota Fortuner and Revo to 6,242 units from 8,946 in the same period last year.
Sazgar Haval and Cherry Tigo, two new players, sold 442 and 706 units, respectively, in 1HFY23. In contrast to the 6MFY22 period, sales of the JAC X-200, Isuzu D-Max, and Hyundai Porter fell by 28 percent, 48 percent, and 30 percent, respectively, to 345, 132, and 567, respectively. Total bus sales of PAMA members grew by 23pc to 320 units from 260 units in July-Dec FY22 while truck sales, a barometer of the country’s import/export, decreased by 42pc to 1,627 units from 2,802 units in 6MFY22.
