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30 per cent rise in car sales in Pakistan in second half of 2002
Karachi, Feb 01: Pakistan`s car sales rose 30 per cent in the six months ended Dec. 31 as lower rates for loans and a recovery from drought last year spurred demand.
Karachi, Feb 01: Pakistan's car sales rose 30 per cent in the six months ended Dec. 31 as lower rates for loans and a recovery from drought last year spurred demand.
Sales rose 30 per cent to 24,832 units in the first half of the 2002-03 fiscal year, the Pakistan Automotive Association said in a statement.
Rising incomes and the lowest interest rates in a decade lifted sales at the largest automobile assembly company, Pak Suzuki Motor Co., a joint venture with Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. and Honda Atlas Car Pakistan Ltd., which assembles and sells cars for Japan's Honda Motor Corp.
Loans to buy cars have fallen to 12 per cent annually from 24 per cent two years ago, the statement suggested.
The nation's central bank, the state bank of Pakistan, had cut its benchmark lending rate by 6.5 percentage points to 7.5 per cent since July 2001, prompting banks to lower commercial lending rates.
Indus Motors Ltd., which assembles Toyota cars, leads the industry as sales rose 68 per cent to 6,897 cars in the six months from 4,101 units a year earlier. Pak Suzuki Motors boosted its sales by about a half to 12,522 units, the association said.
Higher farm production lifted sales of motorcycles, scooters and tractors by 38 per cent to 76,939 units. Truck sales more than doubled to 788 units in the six months to December. Companies sold 10,371 tractors, or 11.5 per cent more than in the year-earlier period, it said.
Bureau Report
Sales rose 30 per cent to 24,832 units in the first half of the 2002-03 fiscal year, the Pakistan Automotive Association said in a statement.
Rising incomes and the lowest interest rates in a decade lifted sales at the largest automobile assembly company, Pak Suzuki Motor Co., a joint venture with Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp. and Honda Atlas Car Pakistan Ltd., which assembles and sells cars for Japan's Honda Motor Corp.
Loans to buy cars have fallen to 12 per cent annually from 24 per cent two years ago, the statement suggested.
The nation's central bank, the state bank of Pakistan, had cut its benchmark lending rate by 6.5 percentage points to 7.5 per cent since July 2001, prompting banks to lower commercial lending rates.
Indus Motors Ltd., which assembles Toyota cars, leads the industry as sales rose 68 per cent to 6,897 cars in the six months from 4,101 units a year earlier. Pak Suzuki Motors boosted its sales by about a half to 12,522 units, the association said.
Higher farm production lifted sales of motorcycles, scooters and tractors by 38 per cent to 76,939 units. Truck sales more than doubled to 788 units in the six months to December. Companies sold 10,371 tractors, or 11.5 per cent more than in the year-earlier period, it said.
Bureau Report