Revo Rocco
The recent chaos in the car industry due to economic troubles has blown car sales out of proportion.
In January 2023, car sales went down massively, with Suzuki posting the lowest monthly sales since the COVID-19 outbreak. In contrast, Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai witnessed a considerable increase in sales.
Regardless, the overall sales of January 2023 were 36% lower than the previous month due to a massive 74% decline in Suzuki’s sales. This has given way to some interesting new entries in the monthly ‘best-sellers’ list of last month.
Starting from the bottom, the five best-selling cars of January 2023 are as follows:
Formerly a consistently strong seller in Pak Suzuki’s lineup, Wagon R’s sales have been lukewarm at best in the past few months. Even in January 2023, like several other economy cars, Suzuki sold only 671 units of Wagon R last month.
Interestingly, Wagon-R is the only small car to break into January’s list of 5 best-selling cars list. This is perhaps an indicator of the current economic condition only benefiting the upper crust of the Pakistani nation.
Once again, Honda HR-V has claimed the title of Pakistan’s best-selling crossover SUV, beating several economy cars as well as Honda Civic in the process.
Last month, Honda Atlas sold 729 units of HR-V. Although the SUV observed a 19% decline in sales compared to December 2022, it still remains the best-selling vehicle in its class.
Toyota Corolla has proved once again that it is an undisputed top contender in the sedan segment of Pakistan. According to the latest data, Toyota sold 1,169 units of Corolla last month, becoming the third best-selling car in Pakistan, despite being an almost decade-old sedan with a starting price of over Rs. 5.5 million.
Honda continues to bask in the success of the 6th generation City which has become Pakistan’s favorite new subcompact sedan. In January 2023, Honda Atlas sold an impressive 1,368 units of City, making it the best-selling sedan for the company and for Pakistan.
Unless we’re living in Australia, this is the weirdest entry of the past several years, to say the least. Toyota Hilux, despite a starting price of almost Rs. 10 million (Rs. 1 crore), has become Pakistan’s best-selling car for January 2023.
According to recent data, Toyota sold 1,444 units of Hilux last month. A possible reason for this could be that Toyota sold a large fleet of this utility truck to a government or private sector customer. Regardless, this sales increase is curious, given the current economic condition.
