Overview
- PAMA reported Tuesday that Pakistan’s passenger car production fell 23% month‑on‑month in August and sales dropped 20%, with commercial vehicle output down about 40% over the same period.
- The Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association says the immediate cause is a regulatory vacuum after the June expiry of AIDEP 2021–26 and unclear sales‑tax rules for hybrid, plug‑in and range‑extended EVs, which has pushed buyers into a wait‑and‑see stance and left dealers with unsold inventory.
- Despite the August slide, cumulative July–August figures show a strong year‑on‑year recovery with passenger‑car sales up roughly 80% to about 30,933 units, a gain PAMA partly attributes to a low prior‑year base and easier credit.
- SIAM data shows India delivered its strongest August on record with combined production up 16.9% year‑on‑year, domestic passenger vehicle sales up 36.5%, electric scooter production and sales more than doubling, and utility vehicles outselling passenger cars by over two times.
- Key near‑term risks include Pakistan’s need for a clear new auto policy to restore consumer confidence and stop lost tax revenue, and in India the durability of festival‑season demand will depend on dealer inventories and export trends.