KARACHI: The first quarter of FY21 ended on a contrasting note for auto sector, depicting a 2.7 per cent rise in car sales to 31,868 units while production fell by 24pc to 27,574.

However, September figures for production and sales of cars remained positive with 12,117 and 11,860 units versus 7,177 and 9,885 in August and 9,090 and 10,923 units in September 2019, respectively.

Honda Civic and City car volumes revived with an impressive 65pc jump to 6,483 units in 1QFY21 while Suzuki Bolan held second position with an increase of 59pc in sales to 1,758.

Suzuki Swift sales recovered by 20pc to 630 units, followed by 13pc hike in Suzuki WagonR sales to 2,460 units, figures released by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (Pama) revealed.

Suzuki Alto emerged as one of the main losers in the 1QFY21, posting a massive drop of 41pc to 7,651 units, while Toyota Corolla sales also declined by 34pc to 3,614 due to introduction of its in-house competitor Yaris whose volumes came in at 6,009. Suzuki Cultus sales dipped 9pc to 3,263 units.

Amid rising demand, Indus Motor Company has given a price shock of Rs40,000 on all variants of Toyota Yaris which is effective from October 13 despite rupee gaining against the dollar, which usually lowers down cost of imported parts and accessories.

IMC had also raised the price of Yaris when the plant and showrooms were closed countrywide in April and May due to strict lockdown. The assembler sold 2,421 units of Yaris in September as compared to 1,705 units in August.

In light commercial vehicles, pickups and jeeps, Toyota Fortuner, Honda BR-V and Toyota Hilux showed massive rise of 47pc, 80pc and 81pc to 390, 952 and 1,702 units respectively in 1QFY21.

Suzuki Ravi and JAC sales in the last three months rose by 11pc and 16pc year-on-year to 1,723 and 160 units.

Newcomers Hyundai Tucson and Hyundai Porter sold 237 units in August-September, compared to 255 in July-September. In heavy vehicles, both truck and bus sales failed to achieve a positive growth. Despite good volumes of Isuzu and Master, total truck sales fell by 10.4pc in 1QFY21 to 783 units due to 68pc decline in Hino’s to 115 units. However, Master and Isuzu sold 223 and 391 units, up by 84pc and 1pc, respectively.

An overall 28pc plunge was registered in bus sales to 141 units despite 77pc jump in Master sales to 69 units. The main reason behind the big drop in bus sales was 36pc and 79pc fall in Hino and Isuzu sales to 58 and 14 units in first quarter FY21.

In farm machinery, Fiat sales witnessed 22pc plunge to 3,475 units while Massey Ferguson volumes stood 50pc higher at 7,225 in 1QFY21. In two-/three-wheelers, Honda bikes sales completed the first quarter with 22pc rise to 288,005 units while Suzuki and Yamaha volumes remained under pressure with 9pc and 25pc drop to 4,583 and 4,643.

United Auto Motorcycle sales soared by 21pc to 98,363 units while Road Prince bike sales also improved by 24pc to 36,514.

Published in Dawn, October 13th, 2020