2011 saw a promising upward trend in automobile demand and sales

The year 2011 was mercurial in terms of automobile sales in Pakistan. Some companies showed promising figures whereas others struggled to keep up with the pace. Pak Suzuki Motors reigned over the automotive industry, showing the highest sales last year.

Although the automotive sector in Pakistan has a few players, the automobile demand soared up exponentially in the last few years with major players like Pak Suzuki, Indus Motors (Toyota) and Atlas Honda. However, due to several factors, domestic and international, 2011 was a fluctuating term in of sales.

Undoubtedly, the automobile demand remained almost unchanged despite slow economy and worsening law and order situation in Pakistan; hatchbacks like Mehran, Alto, Santro and Cultus remained the hottest brands during the year. However, some companies struggled to keep up with the requirements of the people.

Altas Honda – Cars, for one, could not catch-up to the nationwide demand of their flagship product in Pakistan, Honda Civic. Due to natural disasters in Japan and Thailand the company had to bring the car production—the assembly of ready-made components—to a halt in December.

The import of various automobile components stumbled due to the March earthquake in Japan, followed by Tsunami. Later in October through December, Thailand’s monsoon floods resulted in scarcity of rubber, plastic and electronic components.

The front offices at Honda dealerships did not see a slowdown in the demand of its vehicles. However, a Honda official predicted that the halt in production will be followed by a free fall in demands during the first two quarters of calendar year 2012.

On the other hand, Pak Suzuki had one of the most prospective years in the history. The company sold 2880 Suzuki Mehran units only in December, holding the best selling car’s title for the second month in a row.

Toyota lagged behind by a hair’s breadth in car sales. Its signature sedan, Corolla sold 2153 units in the same month. However, in terms of yearly sales the car remained the best selling product in Pakistan.

Cuore, Indus Motors’ micro-car, was the only product that saw a decline in sales. The company has announced that its production will be discontinued by the end of June, 2012.

The main reason for high car demand in the country, according to economists, is the lowered car taxes, high farm income and lower base effect. The total number of cars sold was higher in 2011, 71,886, as compared to the sales in 2010, 59,646.

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Posted by Usman Khalid on Jan 12 2012. Filed under Automobiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.