KARACHI: Cars sales including Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV’s) have exhibited a phenomenal monthly rise of 64 percent and reached 8,889 units. This increase is largely driven by a 209 percent monthly increase in 1300cc vehicles, in addition to a 20 percent monthly rise in 800cc category. According to the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA), the massive rise in January, 2011 is spurred by the ‘new year’ phenomena as people tend to postpone purchases till the start of a new year. Similarly, the seven months of Financial Year 2011 saw auto sales progress by 12.6 percent and reach 82,185 units, primarily because of the 22 percent annual growth in LCVs’ (Ravi and Bolan). Corolla was the major contributor to the exceptional auto sales achieved during January, 2011, as sales surged by a monthly 220 percent and reached 5,023 units compared to 1,568 units in December, 2010. Contrarily, Suzuki’s Alto sales suffered a monthly contraction of 17 percent in January 2011. Shahbaz Ashraf at Arif Habib Limited said that auto demand is expected to undergo contraction, as the sector continues to suffer from rising steel prices and a weakening rupee against yen. Consequently, auto assemblers have continued to raise car prices, hurting consumers’ affordability and denting car demand, he said. He added that the government’s decision to allow imports of five years old cars is portraying a murky picture on the already gloomy auto industry.
