LAHORE – The sale of tractors in 2012 has jumped immensely by 882 per cent annually to 7.57k units in country in comparison with the sale of only 771 units last year.
This massive growth can primarily be attributed to final month deliveries of Punjab government tractor scheme. On monthly-basis, tractor sales registered a solid growth 29 per cent. Company-wise data shows Al-Ghazi Tractors registering a sales growth of a hefty 6.7x YoY, and 36 per cent MoM to 3.19k units. Millat Tractors’ sales also boosted by 504 per cent YoY and 25 per cent MoM to 1.64k units. Experts see a marked decline in volumes in the current month of Jan 2013, owing to increase in GST on tractors from 5 per cent to 10 per cent, and an end to the Punjab government tractor scheme in December 2012.
As per the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association monthly production figures, the segment-wise break-up reveals that the 1000cc segment recorded a sales drop of 18 per cent YoY in Dec 2012. However, the economy segment (less than 1000cc) sales inched up 2 per cent MoM.
It is to be noted that during 1HFY13, car and LCV sales witnessed a sharp decline of 30 per cent YoY to 57.5k units, mainly on account of high base-effect owing to absence of any government taxi scheme as against last year, influx of imported cars this year, discontinuation of Alto (PSMC) and Coure, and ban on factory-fitted CNG kit and its import, auto industry analysts at AHL observed.
Quoting the latest data, they stated that Indus Motor Company Limited experienced sales contraction of a massive 50 per cent YoY during Dec 2012 to 1.6k units. Even during the 1HFY13, sales were down 39 per cent YoY to 24.1k units. Company’s leading brand, Corolla’s sales were down 36 per cent YoY to 1.4k units in Dec 2012, along with that, Hilux sales contracted by a massive 77 per cent YoY to 189 units. On a MoM basis, sale of Corolla and Hilux contracted by 26 per cent and 29 per cent MoM, respectively, in Dec 2012. After continuous decline in sales volume of the flagship brand, the company has recently introduced Corolla GLI variant in i.e. Limited Edition, with seemingly reasonable price increase of Rs 45k, to re-capture its market share in the 1300cc and above category.
Like other peers, Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan Limited (HCAR’s) experienced a sales drop of 39 per cent MoM to 864 units in Dec-12, while on a YoY basis, the company recorded a massive increase of 11x mainly due to low base-effect of Dec-11 sales (Japan floods). The 1HFY13 scenario portrays an improved picture as sales rose 21 per cent YoY mainly due to the launch of Civic’s new model in Oct-12. However, segment-wise data shows Civic registering a sales decline of 30 per cent MoM to 178 units mainly due to year-end factor.
Pakistan Suzuki Motor Company Limited (PSMC) registered a sales decline of 25 per cent YoY to 5,987 units in Dec 2012 however with a marginal decline in its cumulative market share (60 per cent 1HFY13 v/s 62 per cent 1HCY12). The company recorded a significant 32 per cent YoY plunge in sales volume in 1HFY13 to 34.3k units. As mentioned earlier, the decline in volumes can mainly be attributable to high base-effect of Punjab government taxi scheme last year (since PSMC was the sole beneficiary in the scheme), and phased-out CNG vehicle. Encouragingly, PSMC is making efforts by offering customers various promotional deals including the exchange offers, especially on its Cultus and Swift variants.