Pakistan August 2012: Suzuki Mehran up in disrupted market

Suzuki Mehran (Indian version). Picture by njyo, all rights reserved.

* See the Top 10 best-selling models by clicking on the title! *

Normally I only update Pakistan new car sales data every quarter as the market is usually very stable, but these last couple of months have been so disruptive it deserved an early catch-up. Note the data, provided by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association, is restricted to models produced locally, however this is a pretty accurate representation of the most popular cars in the country as imports are very limited. In August, new car sales are down 14% year-on-year to 10,385 units. Over the first 8 months of 2012 total sales stand at 118,015 units, still up a healthy 9% year-on-year.

In July, local production of the normally very popular Suzuki Alto stopped, as well as that of the Daihatsu Cuore, with the Honda Civic stopping in August. It is still unclear whether this is a temporary halt or a definitive stop (if you live in Pakistan and/or have more information on this please get in touch) but the certainty is it has already had an impact on the models ranking, with the above models all but disappearing from the ladder. The Toyota Corolla stays on top with 2,800 sales and 27% in August but with production transfers from the Alto, the antediluvian Suzuki Mehran is up to a fantastic 25.2% share this month thanks to 2,615 units sold.

Other changes include the Suzuki Cultus shooting up to third place with 1,173 sales and 11.3% vs. #6 and 7.6% year-to-date, the Honda City up to #4 at 1,0340 units and 10% share (after ranking #3 in July) vs. #7 with 4.3% year-to-date, and the Suzuki Swift up to 5.9% share vs. 4.3% year-to-date. Reversely, the Suzuki Bolan is down from #2 in June to #5 in August and the Suzuki Ravi is down to #6.

Previous post: Pakistan June 2012: Honda City up to #6

Previous year: Pakistan Full Year 2011: Toyota Corolla leads, Suzuki Mehran up

Full August 2012 Top 10 Ranking Table below.