The dropping car sale trend has been broken slightly as the automakers streamline their production and inventory management according to the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) auto-sector import clauses.
The latest data from Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) suggests that carmakers (association members only) collectively sold 13,369 vehicles in October 2022, witnessing a month-over-month (MoM) increase of 21%, but a year-over-year (YoY) decrease of 36%.
Toyota Indus Motor Company (IMC) sold 3,374 cars, reporting a 29% MoM increase in sales. Honda Atlas Cars Limited (HACL) sold just 1,425 cars with an 11% MoM decline, while Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) sold 8,003 cars, observing a respectable 33% MoM recovery in sales.
Hyundai Nishat Motors Private Limited (HNMPL) sold just 486 units in September, recording a 50% MoM decline in sales. Once again, Tucson remained the company’s best seller.
The monthly sales of some popular cars are as follows:
| Passenger Vehicle Sales |
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| Passenger Vehicles | Units Sold in September 2022 | Units Sold in October 2022 | Month-on-Month % Difference |
| PSMC |
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| Cultus | 751 | 1,129 | 50% |
| Alto | 2,372 | 4,181 | 76% |
| Wagon R | 766 | 768 | 0% |
| Bolan | 609 | 180 | -54% |
| Swift | 1,263 | `1,350 | 7% |
| Toyota IMC |
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| Corolla | 1,000 Approx. | 1,838 | 3% |
| Yaris | 800 Approx. | ||
| Fortuner | Under 250 | 1,536 | 84% |
| Hilux | 610 Approx. | ||
| Honda Atlas |
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| Civic | 240 Approx. | 1,371 | 14% |
| City | 960 Approx. | ||
| BR-V | 79 | 54 | -32% |
| Hyundai Nishat |
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| Tucson | 375 | 201 | -46% |
| Elantra | 320 | 135 | -58% |
| Sonata | 151 | 77 | -49% |
Sales of the Honda Civic and City went down from 10,444 in July-October 2021 to 4,416 in July-October 2022. Sales of the Toyota Corolla and Yaris also fell massively from 19,214 to 8,253 units.
In addition, Suzuki Cultus and WagonR sales dropped from 11,454 and 6,779 in the same period last year to 2,952 and 2,181 this year.
Suzuki Bolan and Alto sales were 1,469 and 13,464 last year compared to 4,012 and 20,773 sold in July-October 2022, whereas jeep and pickup sales plummeted by 45% from 14,969 in July-October 2021 to 8,234 units in the same period in 2022.
SBP Import Relaxation
The increase in sales and production in October shows that things are getting a little bit better. This is because assemblers have been able to deliver cars since the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) raised import quotas. This made it possible for car companies to get their parts out of the port.
The sales are expected to rise further as automakers continue to pick up the pace.
