No cars sold in Pakistan in April, thanks to Covid-19 lockdowns

The Pakistani automobile industry didn’t sell a single car in April because of a country-wide lockdown the government enforced to prevent the spread of coronavirus, analysts said Tuesday quoting data from Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association.

The lockdowns resulted in the closure of plant operations along with car dealerships across the country, Topline Securities said in a report. Car sales in the last 10 months ending April dropped by 52% compared to the same period of the preceding financial year, it said, adding motorcycle sales were also affected.

“The auto industry sold only 39 units in April, which composed of trucks and buses only,” Inter Market Securities said in a separate report, noting there were no passenger car sales due to the lockdown that came into force on March 24.

Tractor sales were down 30% in April compared to the same month of 2019. “The decline in [tractor] sales was probably because of a partial lockdown, which was later eased for the tractor industry given its links to the agriculture sector amid harvesting season,” it said.

“With the easing of lockdowns in the country effective May 11, we expect sales to resume for the last two weeks of May,” IMS said. It, however, added the sales are expected to pick up in the first half of 2021. This is because Indus Motor Company, the makers of Toyota in Pakistan, and Honda Car Pakistan Limited increased prices recently and Pak Suzuki Motor Company is likely to follow suit. But analysts at IMS also said the reduction of more than 4% in interest rates may help auto-financing pick up earlier than expected.