KARACHI: Vendors from the auto sector are claiming a ‘recession’ in their sector, which they claim has lost over 12,000 jobs in the last three months, with another 50,000 jobs on the line. But the data for production and sales of automobiles and motorbikes released by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) covering the last five months paints an altogether different picture.

Auto vendors are claiming that tractor production has gone down by 60 per cent followed by 35pc fall in cars and 30pc drop in two-wheelers.

But data released by auto assemblers’ shows production of Honda, Toyota and Suzuki cars, the three auto assemblers in Pakistan, has surged to 100,262 in the first five months of the fiscal year, from 91,189 units in the same period last year.

Likewise, production of bikes (Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha and United Auto Motorcycle) soared to to 665,531 units in the same five months of the fiscal year; up from 635,502 in same period last fiscal.

Chairman Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts & Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) Mohammad Ashraf Sheikh was asked for a comment on the discrepancy between the data presented by his association and that released by the auto assembler but he declined. “We will give our version directly to the Prime Minister,” he said before terminating the call.

The tractor segment, as per the claims of the vendors, is indeed struggling hard to achieve higher production as the last five months had proved dismal in terms of low production but not that massive a drop in production as claimed by PAAPAM.

Fiat production dropped to 7,404 from 11,090 units while Massey Ferguson production inched up to 16,737 from 16,440 units.

Interestingly, PAAPAM in its appeal to PM Imran Khan in the print media, did not bother to mention falling truck sales which is dubbed as barometer of economy and trade.

Truck production of Hinopak plunged to 1,110 from 1,634 followed by Master production to 570 from 683. Only Isuzu’s production improved to 1,615 from 1,571 in the five months under review.

Bus production of Hino and Isuzu increased to 202 and 144 from 178 and 77 units respectively.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2018