KARACHI: The auto sector has failed to shift gears in July, the first month of the fiscal year, with sales of cars, light commercial vehicles, vans and jeeps plummeting by more than half compared to a year ago.

Total sales were 5,092 units in July, down 57 per cent compared to 11,925 units sold in July 2022, according to data released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association. Sales fell 16pc month on month, as 6,034 units were sold in June.

The drop comes after the depressing fiscal year 2022-23, when the sector saw its sales decrease by 55pc.

The data for the current calendar year is more alarming, as sales shrank to less than one-third in the January-July period, plunging to 47,855 units from 155,216 a year ago.

Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd sold 2,444 units in July, down 19pc from the previous month and 63pc from July last year.

Sales in the seven months from January to July reduced to less than a quarter, falling from 84,255 units a year ago to 19,436.

Sales of the Indus Motor Company, the assembler of Toyota vehicles, plunged 42pc in July from a year ago. The drop was 26pc when compared to sales in June. In January-July, the company’s sales fell 64pc to 14,165 units.

Honda Atlas Cars Ltd sales plummeted 81pc to 494 units in July compared to last year. However, the automaker somehow managed to boost its sales by 61pc when compared to 307 units sold in June. Its sales were down 72pc to 6,270 units in January-July.

The sales of Hyundai Nishat Motor inched up by 2pc to 569 units in July compared to June. The figure was also 183pc higher compared to 201 units sold in July last year. However, the company’s sales came down by 34pc in January-July to 5,602 units.

As for tractor sales, Al-Ghazi and Millat together sold 2,678 units in July, down 10pc compared to June but 19pc higher than July 2022 sales. In January-July, their tractor sales dropped 36pc to 22,107.

In bikes, Atlas Honda Limited Ltd saw a fall of 17pc in July sales of 62,012 units compared to the previous month. The annual decline in sales amounted to 23pc. The January-July sales fell 29pc to 544,650 units.

Truck sales grew 54pc to 165 units in July compared to June but were down 29pc from July last year. The seven-month sales stood 47pc lower at 1,172 units.

Bus sales fell to 30 units in July from 42 in June and 40 in July 2022. Some 364 buses were sold in January-July, down 24pc year on year.

Sunny Kumar, deputy head of research at Topline Securities, attributed the shrinking sales of cars, LCVs, jeeps and pickups to escalating prices, expensive auto finance and the low purchasing power of consumers.

He said bike sales were also hit by rising prices and consumers’ shrinking purchasing power.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2023