Car sales declined by 71% and motorbikes by 33% in March 2020

The auto sector of Pakistan faced yet another blow as the car sales went down by 71% while motorbike sales also suffered a decline of 33% during March 2020 on year on year basis, as per the PAMA stats.

Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) has released its auto sales stats for March 2020, and it shows that the auto industry is going through a rough patch amid the COVID-19 lockdown situation in the country.

The auto sector was already in deep crisis due to the devaluation of Pakistani Rupee against the US dollar, imposition of several additional duties by the government, and sky-rocketing prices of automobiles.

The auto industry has become more vulnerable after the imposition of lockdown across the country due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus in Pakistan. It forced almost all the auto manufacturers to halt their production temporarily at their respective manufacturing facilities in the last week of March 2020.

The 9MFY20 decline goes up to 47% on a year-on-year basis. The situation is expected to worsen in the coming months for the crippling auto industry.

Let’s have a look at the sales stats for each category of cars and automakers.

In the passenger cars category of 1300 cc and above, the sales of Honda City and Civic on a combined basis declined by more than 61% as the automaker managed to sell only 1327 units in March 2020.

On the other hand, only 82 units of Suzuki Swift were sold during the last month that dropped the sales of Swift by nearly 79% on a year-on-year basis.

Toyota Corolla also faced a tough period as its sales during March 2020 went down by more than 35%.

The overall sales in this category went down by  56% in March 2020 as compared to its corresponding period last year.

In the passenger cars category of 1000 cc engine capacity, the sales of Suzuki Cultus were dented by as much as 68% as Pak Suzuki only managed to sell 710 units in March 2020. Whereas Wagon R continued to suffer as the company sold only 310 units of the hatchback, and its sales dropped by nearly 90%. The overall sales in this segment went down by 80% on a YoY basis.

In this segment, Suzuki Bolan’s sales went down massively by nearly 82%, whereas the top-performer of 2019 also faced the heat as PSMC only managed to sell 884 units of Alto, which are its lowest number since its launch.

The overall car sales have gone down by 70.8% in March 2020, with a total of 5796 units being sold in this period as compared to 19,897 units in the same period last year. In the first nine months of the current fiscal year 2019-20, auto sales have slumped by 47%.

Pak Suzuki became the major loser during the last month as its sales dropped massively among the top three Japanese automakers in the country. Its main reason was the sudden drop in the sales of the 660 cc Alto that was the main driving force of PSMC’s sales. The company sold only 2673 units of its cars during the last month, which is the lowest number since April 2009 when the automaker sold 2879 units in a single month.

Suzuki Cultus was performing better than other models, but it also suffered in the last month by more than 68%. Wagon R is getting no relief as the company yet again recorded a 90% decrease in its sales during the last month and a 75% decline in the first 9 months of the ongoing fiscal year.

The 660 cc Alto grabbed the market of Wagon R, but it also faced a setback with just 884 units being sold in March 2020. The other vehicles include Bolan, Ravi, and Swift, that also suffered a decrease of 82%, 86%, and 79%, respectively.

The overall sales of Pak Suzuki witnessed a drop of 73% in the last month, which is expected to go up even further in the coming months.

Toyota Indus faced an overall decline of 50% in its sales on the back of a 56% drop in the sales of its main driving force, Corolla. Its SUV Fortuner also faced a decrease of nearly 5% in its sales, with 158 units being sold.

On the other hand, Toyota Hilux witnessed a surprising increase in its sales by 38% as Toyota Indus sold 346 units of Hilux in March 2020 as compared to 250 units in its corresponding period last year. It is primarily due to the customers that are relatively inelastic to the economic crisis.

However, the situation is expected to continue in the coming months for Indus Motors due to the recessed demand in the market. Moreover, the discontinuation of 1.3-liter variants of Corolla and delay in the bookings of the all-new Yaris will also affect the company’s sales stats in the current COVID-19 situation.

Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan Limited (HACPL) faced a decline in its overall sales by 59% during March 2020 on the back of a decline of 61% in the sales of City and Civic. The company sold just 1564 units last month, out of which 1327 units belonged to City and Civic.

The remaining units belonged to BR-V that also witnessed a drop of more than 34% in its sales during the last month. The demand in the market is low, which suggests that the upcoming months could turn out to be difficult for Honda Atlas. Also, the entry of Yaris in 1.3L and 1.5L variants in the local market would make life tough for Honda City in the future.

The overall sales of trucks and buses went down by more than 30% in March 2020, with 342 units being sold in this period. Sales of trucks and buses went down by 30% and 34% respectively in this period. Have a look at the complete stats below:

The total sales in this segment dropped by 25%, as BR-V contributed to the major decline with more than 34%. The sales of Fortuner only plunged by nearly 5%, with 158 units being sold in this period.

The sales in the pick-ups segment recorded a decrease of 70% in March 2020. In this segment, Toyota Hilux and Isuzu D-Max witnessed an increase in sales by 38% and 87%, respectively.

On the other hand, Suzuki Ravi and JAC pickup faced a decline in their sales by a huge margin of 86% and 84%, respectively.

The sales of tractors followed the declining trend and witnessed a drop of 49% in March 2020 as compared to its corresponding period last year. Massey Ferguson and Fiat recorded a decrease of 33% and 67% in their sales, respectively.

The sales of motorbikes also faced a tough period in the prevailing circumstances as its overall sales were down by 33% during March 2020, with 88,103 units being sold.

In the ongoing fiscal year 2019-20, the sales of motorbikes plunged by 11%, with 1.125 million units being sold in the country.

Atlas Honda is one of the largest motorbike manufacturers in the country for which the sales dropped by 23.5%. Atlas Honda sold 68,780 units of motorbikes as compared to 90,000 units in its corresponding period last year.

The other companies include Suzuki and United for which the sales went down by 50% and 37%, respectively. On the other hand, Yamaha witnessed an increase of 7.69% in this period.

The current situation is expected to prolong at least until the end of the ongoing FY 2019-20. The government has already extended the lockdown in the country until the end of April 2020. So, it’s still unsure when the economic activities will return to normal. There will only be a gradual recovery in the automobile sector under the prevailing circumstances.

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