Auto sale remained slightly high during FY11

In financial year 2010, 141,646 units were sold according to the latest data released by Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA). Interestingly, the volumetric sales are still down 18% as compared to their historic high of 177,750 units registered in FY08.The recovery in sales primarily stems from improved rural economy which has benefited from firm farm commodity prices, while sales in the urban centres remain subdued as elevated interest rates has lowered the appetite for consumer financing.In addition to high interest rates, supply side disruptions as an aftermath of Japanese earthquake and deferred purchases in June 11 also contributed to subdued sales growth.Among the individual companies, volumetric sales for PSMC showed an improvement of 8% to 79,941 units compared to 73,993 units sold in FY11. On the contrary, Indus Motor witnesses a decline in its volumetric sales by 2% to 50,015 units.