Car production surges by over 31pc in 1st Quarter

ISLAMABAD: The production of jeeps and cars surged by 31.37 percent during the first quarter of the current fiscal year against the output of the corresponding period of last year.

As many as 57,642 jeeps and cars were manufactured during July-September (2017-18) against the output of 43,878 units during July-September (2016-17), according to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The production of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) also increased by 2.28 percent by growing from the output of 7,018 units last year to 7,178 units during the current fiscal year while the output of motorcycles surged by 24.78 percent by growing from 555,952 motorcycle units last year to 693,709 units in the ongoing year.

The production of trucks during the period also increased by 36.37 percent, from 1,798 units to 2,452 units while the output of tractors increased by 115.81 percent, from 7,237 to 7,237 units, the data revealed.

The automobiles that witnessed negative growth in production during the period under review included buses, production of which declined from 372 units to 294 units, showing negative growth of 20.97 percent.

Meanwhile, on year-on-year basis, the production of jeeps and cars increased by 27.09 percent, from 14,513 units in September 2016 to 18,444 in September 2017.

The production of LCVs increased by 5.47 percent during the month under review by going up from 2,230 to 2,352 while the output of motorcycles increased from 186,939 units to 219,820 units, showing growth of 17.59 percent.

The production of tractors and trucks during the month also increased by 117.61 percent and 52.50 percent respectively. The production of tractors increased from 2,453 units during last September to 5,338 in September 2017 while the output of trucks grew from 600 units to 915 units.

The production of buses during the month under review decreased by 20.34 percent by falling from output of 118 units last September to 94 units during September 2017, the data revealed.

It is pertinent to mention here that the overall Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) of the country witnessed an impressive growth of 8.36 percent during the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to the corresponding period of last year.

The country’s LSMI Quantum Index Numbers (QIM) was recorded at 133.15 points during July-September (2017-18) against 122.87 points during July-September (2016-17), showing growth of over 8 per cent, according to the data of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS).

The highest growth of 6.44 percent was witnessed in the indices monitored by Ministry of Industries, followed by 0.99 percent growth in the products monitored by Provincial Bureaus of Statistics (PBOS) and 0.93 growth in the indices of Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC).

On year-to-year basis, the industrial growth increased by 2.51 percent during September 2017 as compared to same month of last year, however, on month-to-month basis, the industrial growth decreased by 7.83 percent in September 2017 when compared to growth of August 2017, the PBS data revealed.