KARACHI: Sale of locally-assembled carsrose 26 per cent to152,229 unitsin the 10 months of the current fiscal year (July-April 2015-2016), as compared to 120,942 units in the corresponding period ofthelastñscalyear.

In the category of 1,300cc and above, Toyota Corolla remained one of the highest-selling cars in the last 10 months with sales touching 48,203 units, compared to 41,650 units in the preceding year, figures released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) revealed.

In 800cc and above, Suzuki Mehran maintained its top position with sales hitting 31,569 as compared to 24,903 units.

Meanwhile, Suzuki Bolan sales rose sharply to 26,776 units from 17,180 on the back of delivery under Punjab`s Apna Rozgar Scheme.

Suzuki Cultus was the fourth most sought-after vehicle with sales of 13,274 units as compared to 11,397 in the same period ofthelastñscalyear.

The combined sales of Honda Civic and City climbed up to 21,283 units as compared to 18,781 units while Suzuki Swif t sales also rose to 3,325 from 2,931.

A total of 7,782 units of Wagon R were sold in July-April 2015-2016 against 4,027 units in the previous year.

Sales of Suzuki Ravi, another keyvehicle of the Punjab Rozgar Scheme, swelled to 26,902 units in the last 10 months from 17,146 units.

Toyota Fortuner Jeep sales fell to 488 units from 624 units followed by a drop in Sigma Defender sales to 173 from 381 units. On the other hand, Toyota Hilux sales climbed to 4,296 from 3,704 units.

Mohammad Tahir Saeed of Top Line Securities attributed the impressive sales growth to a rise in auto-financing due to the 42-year low interest rates, taxi scheme, improving law and order situation and overall improvement in the country`s economic situation.

Among individual companies, Pak Suzuki (PSMC) sales increased by 41pc to 109,628 units in the 10 months of FY16, primarily due to the Punjab Taxi Scheme.

He said that volumes decreased by 18pc YoY (one per cent MoM) in April 2016 (second month after the completion of Taxi Scheme) to 8,965 units primarily due to the completion of the Taxi Scheme.

Mr Tahir said the delivery time for a new Toyota Corolla model is still hovering in the range of 2-4 months, depending on the variant.

Trucl(s and buses sales posted a jump of 42pc to reach 5,076 units in 10MFY16 due to a surge in demand on account of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the improving law and order situation.