- Excluding taxi scheme sales up 12% year-over-year
The production of car and its sales surged by 12 percent to 81,491 units year on year (YoY) in last five month of the current fiscal year, but if we include the Punjab taxi scheme, the sales went down by 13pc in July-Nov 2016-17.
According to the data released by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) on Tuesday, local car assemblers (including LCVs, vans and jeeps) sold a total of 81,491 units in the first five months.
For the month of November 2016, car sales stood at 17,800, down by 6 percent. However, after adjusting for taxi scheme, units posted a 20 percent YoY growth in Nov 2016. Toyota Corolla, Suzuki Mehran and Suzuki Bolan clinched the positions of top three sellers with 5,019, 3,051 and 1,799 units respectively.
The analyst at Topline brokerage said, “the car sales exceeded our expectation of 16,000 units,” we expected car sales to remain buoyant in 2016-17 despite conclusion of ‘Apna Rozgar’ Taxi Scheme with locally manufactured car sales to clock in at 210,000 units, an increment of 11 per cent YoY (ex-taxi units).
Further, with an average influx of 5,000 imported car units per month he said total sales of the automobile industry to stand at 270,000 units during the current fiscal year.
The analyst said, “Indus Motors (INDU) is backed by continued demand for its flagship product ‘Corolla’, and up gradation of the product portfolio through introduction of new ‘Hilux-Revo’ and 2nd generation ‘Fortuner’”.
Pak-Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC):
PSMC sold 43,553 units in five months during 2016-17 showing a decline of 25 percent YoY.
Sales remained buoyant excluding the taxi units (21,000 in four months 2015-16), posting an increase of 17 per cent YoY. This was mainly fueled by growth in sales of ‘WagonR’ (reaching highest ever sales of 1,400 units in Oct 2016) and ‘Swift’ models, while healthy sales of ‘Bolan’ and ‘Ravi’ post conclusion of taxi scheme also provided much needed respite to the sales numbers.
INDU:
INDU’s sales volume declined by 8 percent YoY as company sold 23,783 units in the five months. To point out, assembly lines suffered through production breakdowns resulting in subdued volumes during the period under review, a source said. However, the plant has managed to achieve smooth operations from November.
Total sales remained flat in the month of November 2016, seeing a slight decline of 2 per cent YoY. To point out, sales of ‘Corolla’ clocked in at 5,019 units, up by 1 percent. The analyst attributes this flattish trend to the seasonality factor as costumers defer their purchases until the New Year eve. Sales of ‘Hilux’ posted a decline of 34 per cent YoY to 340 units, due to the phasing out of the existing model.
HCAR:
HCAR sold 14,155 units in the five-month, showing an increase of 49 percent YoY. Sales for the month of November 2016 registered an increase of 103 per cent YoY.
This increase is mainly due to strong demand dynamics of the 10th Generation Civic with first locally manufactured turbocharged engine in the offering. The sources said 12,000-15,000 bookings have been made for the new Civic.
Millat Tractors (MTL) & Al-Ghazi (AGTL):
Local tractor manufacturers reported a 54 percent YoY increase in sales for five-month period of 2016-17, to 17,541 units. For the month of November 2016, sales improved 127 per cent YoY to 5,145 units.
The analyst attributes this strong growth in tractor sales to lower retail prices due to 5 percent reduction in General Sales Tax (GST), announced in the 2016-17 budget and improved farm economics. The government provided relief to the local farmers announced incentives to the agriculture sector in current year’s budget, including reduction in urea prices and financing rates.
