Pakistan’s automobile sector presented a tale of two markets in March 2026, with conventional vehicle sales posting a sharp monthly decline while electric vehicles bucked the trend with a notable jump, offering an early but meaningful signal of shifting consumer and market dynamics in one of the country’s most closely watched industrial segments.
Industry data released by Arif Habib Limited shows that combined sales of cars, light commercial vehicles, vans, and jeeps fell 9 percent month-on-month to 15,531 units in March, compared to 17,121 units recorded in February. The monthly decline was driven primarily by weakness in the passenger car segment, which contracted 12 percent to 11,702 units over the same period. Within that category, the steepest drop was seen in the 1000cc vehicle class, which fell 36 percent to just 294 units, while cars below 1000cc slipped 18 percent to 4,961 units, and the 1300cc and above segment recorded a more modest 6 percent decline to 6,447 units. Light commercial vehicles, vans, and jeeps showed greater resilience, edging up 1 percent month-on-month to 3,776 units, suggesting that the broader slowdown was concentrated more heavily in the private passenger car space rather than commercial transport.
Despite the monthly softness, the year-on-year picture remains considerably more encouraging. Total sales in the combined category were still 40 percent higher than the 11,113 units recorded in March of the previous year, and on a cumulative basis, auto sales in the first nine months of the current fiscal year reached 144,029 units, representing a 43 percent year-on-year increase from 100,736 units in the comparable period a year earlier. Against this broader backdrop, the performance of electric vehicles stands out as the month’s most consequential data point. Electric vehicle sales rose 61 percent over February, climbing to 53 units from 33 the previous month. While the absolute volumes remain modest relative to the conventional market, the rate of growth is significant, particularly in the context of a month where the rest of the auto market was contracting. As government policy around electric vehicle incentives, local assembly, and charging infrastructure continues to develop, the divergence between conventional and electric vehicle trajectories in Pakistan’s auto market is likely to become an increasingly prominent feature of monthly sales data in the months ahead.
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