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KARACHI: Except for the bus segment, the entire auto sector performed poorly, with car sales falling by 43%, followed by a 42% drop in trucks, a 19% drop in jeeps and pickups, a 52.6 percent drop in tractors, and a 32.5 percent drop in two- and three-wheelers during the first seven months of the current fiscal year.
In January 2022, car sales and production fell to 5,723 and 6,021 units, respectively, from 13,758 and 13,780 in December 2022. Customers want to acquire the most recent models, therefore demand typically spikes in the first month of the new calendar.
During the first seven months of FY23, car production, and sales fell by 38.6 percent and 43 percent, respectively, to 77,101 and 74,933 units, down from 125,507 and 131,759 units in the same time last year.
Rising vehicle prices, high markup rates, financing restrictions, factory shutdowns due to parts shortages, and vehicle delivery delays all led to the massive drop in car sales.
According to Arif Habib Ltd (AHL), overall auto sales (cars, light commercial vehicles, vans, and jeeps) remained 31-month low in January, settling at 10,900 units, a loss of 47 percent compared to January 2022 and 36 percent compared to December 2022. This is also the lowest sales figure since June 2020. (8,800 units).
In July-January FY23, total truck sales were 2,025 versus 3,492 units, while bus sales increased to 392 from 348 units.
While car sales were down, the same assemblers fared well in the heavy engine market.
Hyundai Tucson sales, for example, increased by 97 percent to 2,864 units from 1,456 units in July-January FY22.
Despite plant closures from January 6 to 16, overall Millat Tractor production and sales increased to 1,572 and 2,203 units in January, up from 1,013 and 501 units in December 2022. However, 7MFY23 sales fell by 58 percent to 8,508 from 20,270. Fiat sold 6,415 units out of a total of 11,175 units.
Despite repeated price increases, Honda bike sales increased by 23% in 7MFY23 to 612,817 units from 798,657. Suzuki sales increased by 8% to 22,985 from 21,240 units, while Yamaha sales decreased by 46% to 7,577 from 14,038. United Auto Motorcycle and Road Prince bike sales fell by 64 percent and 69 percent, respectively, to 61,260 and 19,706 from 168,546 and 63,286 in 7MFY22.
