Car sales in Pakistan continues on crash path, just 6,200 units sold in October

The stutter has turned into a trickle in the Pakistani car market with sales figures continuing to paint a grim picture in a shade of deep Red. Sales of four-wheeled personal mobility options in the month of October crashed by 26 per cent month-on-month, as per data released by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA).

The PAMA data for car sales in Pakistan show that October will be yet another month that manufacturers would want to forget in a rush with sales of just 6,200 units, down from 8,400 units in September. Media reports in the country highlight that even taking into account the sales figures of non-PAMA members, the total figure of 7,000 units for the month of October is a sharp fall from 9,500 in September. This total sales figure stood at 15,000 units in October of 2022.

The overall automotive industry in Pakistan has had to face enormous hardships in the recent past. And a respite is nowhere in sight. Demand has dwindled while sticker prices have only increased because of the depreciating value of the country's currency. High levels of taxes and costly automotive financing are also creating a hostile environment, one in which buying even a small vehicle is proving to be a guilty pleasure.

Such has been the sharp nature of the decline that PAMA records reveal sales of just 27,163 units in the first four months of the fiscal year 2023-24. This is a big decline of 44 per cent from the 48,573 units in the same months of the preceding period.

Pakistan car market is currently dominated by players such as Atlas Honda, Pak Suzuki, Toyota, Hyundai and Kia. But there is hardly any local manufacturing here. Even in the two and three-wheeler segments, as well as commercial vehicles, sales have been going south month-on-month. Motorcycle sales in particular, fell by 10 per cent in the first four months of the fiscal year, largely due to shrinking purchasing capacity among the masses.