Haval Pakistan, a joint venture between Sazgar Engineering Works Limited (SEWL)and Great Wall Motors (GWM), has reported a sharp decline in sales for March 2023, with a 64.3% drop compared to the previous month.
The company sold only 100 units, as opposed to 280 units in February. Since Haval Pakistan began the local assembly of completely knocked down (CKD) units in September 2022, it has sold 1,238 units so far.
However, sales numbers for March show an enormous decline from 416 units sold in January and 280 units sold in February, raising concerns about the company’s future. The company also posted a massive dip in sales in December last year, selling merely 26 units.
Here is a complete breakdown of Haval’s sales figures since September 2022:
| Month | Units Sold |
| September 2022 | 83 |
| October 2022 | 120 |
| November 2022 | 213 |
| December 2022 | 26 |
| January 2023 | 416 |
| February 2023 | 280 |
| March 2023 | 100 |
The reason for the decline is not clear but can be attributed to economic instability. Haval Pakistan has not issued any statement regarding this matter. The company offers two SUVs, including the H6 and Jolion, which have gained popularity.
Following are the factors contributing to decline in auto sales;
a) financing rates increased to 25% p.a.
b) individual can take maximum PKR 3 million financing
c) substantial devaluation of PKR has resulted in increase in cost of CKD and other import based parts, therefore, manufacturers have to increase unit price on no option basis
d) due to over 40% inflation, purchasing power of upper middle working class has substantially reduced and buying a luxury is not possible anymore.
e) Mushroom growth of SUV manufacturers in Pakistan during the past four years, supply exceeded demand.
Only the upper class can buy SUVs now and they are not in large numbers
They had the best opportunity to capture the market by setting reasonable rates & doing cost re-engineering but they flow in the greed & met the same fate as other auto makers. Complete failure of their pricing strategy.