Car production registers 23 percent increase in seven months.
KARACHI: Production of cars in the country has increased by 23 percent during the first seven months but the month of January witnessed a sharp fall as the production came down by 33.5 percent, industry data reveals.
For the month of January production declined to 7,532 units compared to 11,327 units in December 2004, according to data compiled by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) .
Total car production increased by 23 percent during the first seven months of current fiscal year to 64,203 units as compared to 52,267 units during the same period last year. Whereas sales of cars recorded a surge of 26 percent to reach 65,803 units in July-January 2004-05 as compared to 52,302 units during the corresponding period last year.
“The production of cars has declined because of Ramazan and Eid holidays in January,” said Abdul Azeem, analyst at Invest Capital and Securities, a local brokerage house. “After the ban on premium financing by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the car sales will further drop during February.”
He said the automotive manufacturers will cover the drop in production in the coming months. During July-December 2004, car sales were up by 31.8 percent to 57,010 units compared to the same corresponding period last year, he added.
In the month of January 2005, Indus Motors produced 1,429 units of Toyota Corolla (1600cc), down 33.4 percent compared to December’s production of 2,146 units, while its sales also declined by 30.6 percent to 1,459 units compared to 2,105 units in December 2004.
The production of Honda Civic came down by 55.1 percent to 725 units compared to 1,616 units manufactured during December 2004. The sales of Honda civic remained at 752 units in January 2005 compared to 1,620 units sold in December 2004. In 1000cc power engines, 804 units of Suzuki Cultus were produced during January 2005, down 38.7 percent from 1,313 units made during December 2004. Its sales registered a slight increase to reach 1,123 units in January compared to 1,054 units sold in December 2004, according to PAMA’s figures.
In 800cc power engines, production of Suzuki Mehran recorded a huge decline of 50.6 percent, falling to 1,464 units in January from 2,964 units made in December 2004. A total of 233 trucks were manufactured during January 2005, decreasing 18.5 percent from the production of 286 trucks in December 2004.
During January 1,842 light commercial vehicles (LCV) were sold out of total 1,667 units produced.
Farm tractors production also registered a decline during January to 2,740 units. A total of 2,296 farm tractors were sold during the month.
Total production of motorcycle industry dropped 3.1 percent to 34,224 units in January compared to 35,332 units in December 2004, while its sale was 34,822 units, down 0.7 percent from 35,071 units of December.
Industry sources said the demand of motorcycle is increasing rapidly in the country and two or three new Chinese and Japanese brands motorcycles would enter into the market during next two months.
“Cheap financing by banks and leasing companies is supporting the automobile industry to a great extent, while the companies have almost doubled their production to fulfill requirements of the customers,” a dealer said.
During the month of January, Ghandhara Nissan Motors staged a comeback to the auto market, importing 600 units to meet the car demand, while another party is continuously importing Chevrolet 1600. —AH