Suzuki Alto shines amid Pakistan auto sector’s ongoing woeful run

• Sales of passenger cars stood at 9,987 units in the last month of 2019, as compared to 16,141 units sold in same period in 2018.
• Toyota Corolla's sales plunged by 50pc to 2,085 units in December 2018 as compared to 4,179 units sold during December 2018.

Woeful run of Pakistan auto sector continued after car sales plunged by 38 percent on the back of dismal demand in the month of December.

As per the latest data released by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) for the first half of Fiscal Year (FY) 2020, the sales of passenger cars stood at 9,987 units in the last month of the previous year, as compared to 16,141 units sold in same period in 2018.

Meanwhile, car sales plunged by 43pc to 59,097 units in the last six months of 2019, as compared to 104,038 units sold in the same period back in 2018.

In December, sales of 1,300 cc and above category cars declined by over 50 percent to 3,246 units as compared to 6,523 units sold during the same month in the previous year. Whereas, comparing the six months period the sales recorded 62pc decline.

Sales of Suzuki Swift dropped by 28pc with only 277 cars sold in December 2019. Whereas, sales of Toyota Corolla plunged by 50pc to 2,085 units in December 2018 as compared to 4,179 units sold during December 2018, meanwhile, Honda Civic and City slumped by 55 per cent to 884 in December 2019 from 1,989 units sold in same period in 2018.

Coming to of 1,000 cc cars, sales of Suzuki Cultus and Suzuki WagonR, saw a decline by 55pc to 2,125 units in December 2019 as compared to 4,722 units sold in December 2018.

In the below 1000 cc category, Suzuki Alto was a notable exception showing strong sales of 3700 units sold in December 2019, some 23,658 units of Suzuki Alto were sold in the last six months of 2019.