Chief Executive TopLine Securities Mohammad Sohail said the sales of locally-produced cars may register a growth of at least five to 10 per cent this year on the possibility of strong rural buying as the government has increased the wheat support price to Rs1,050 from Rs950 per 40 kg. Cotton prices, which remained high in the last two yeas, were now witnessing a downward trend. - File photo

KARACHI: Indus Motor Company (IMC) on Monday raised prices of Toyota Corolla and Daihatsu cars by Rs20,000-Rs50,000 effective from Tuesday.

Official spokesperson of IMC, Ali Asghar Jamali linked the price hike to devaluation of the rupee against foreign currencies mainly the Japanese yen making import of kits costlier, besides having adverse impact on the cost of production.

The prices of Toyota Corolla XLI and GLi models had been raised by Rs20,000 and that of Toyota Altis and Daihatsu Cuore by Rs50,000 and Rs20,000, respectively.

Ali said that the demand of Toyota cars remained brisk as buyers shifted towards Corolla owing to closure of Honda car plant from December 2011 till end of February 2012.

He said the local car industry was now highly worried over the frequent increase in arrival of used cars and other vehicles. As many as 22,000-23,000 used cars and vehicles had landed in July-December 2011 as compared to just 6,000 overall units in the entire 2010.

IMC had raised the prices on December 9, 2011 by 1.5 per cent. Pak Suzuki had last raised the prices on January 1, 2012 by 15,000-25,000 followed by Honda Atlas Cars by Rs20,000-30,000 on different models from January 6, 2012.

It is interesting to note that sales of locally assembled cars have been showing positive trend in the last six months despite sharp increase fuel prices and rising import of used cars.

Rising home remittances during the period proved as an oxygen for boosting demand of locally-produced cars.

The showrooms are now flooded with used cars and even the prospective buyers have developed interest in big cars like station wagons ranging between Rs750,000 to over Rs1 million mainly of Nissan and Toyota.

Chief Executive TopLine Securities Mohammad Sohail said the sales of locally-produced cars may register a growth of at least five to 10 per cent this year on the possibility of strong rural buying as the government has increased the wheat support price to Rs1,050 from Rs950 per 40 kg. Cotton prices, which remained high in the last two yeas, were now witnessing a downward trend.

He said there may be stability in overall economy as the State Bank had predicted GDP growth rate at four per cent for the current fiscal year as compared to 2.5 per cent last year.

However, imported cars were likely to arrive in larger numbers this year, he added.