LAHORE: Reduction in interest rates has increased car financing, positively impacting the sales of automobiles in the country, as auto financing is contributing around 30% of vehicle sales currently.

This was stated by Chief Operating Officer IMC, Mr. Ali Jamali. He said that improving economic environment, driven by the government efforts provided much needed boost to the auto industry as the IMC in particular posted healthy growth in FY 2014-15 and added Rs. 32b in national exchequer which makes 1.2% of overall tax collection. ‘The agri and Taxi schemes are good initiatives of the government which also posed a good impact on the local auto industry sales. We are hopeful that other OEMs products such as IMC’s Hilux will also be included in such schemes.

‘The company mainly benefited from strong demand generated by the new 11th generation Toyota Corolla launched in July 2014 as the company outperformed and stayed well ahead of competition throughout the year clocking in 51,398 units,’ he added. 

Jamali said that the company’s profits have increased due to the surge in demand of automobiles as additional 22,917 units were sold in the reported year.

It is to be noted that IMC has announced a net profit after tax of Rs 9.1 billion for Financial Year 2014-15 against the Rs 3.9 billion posted for previous fiscal.

He said that the combined sales of Toyota CKD and CBU vehicles set a new annual record of 57,387 units for the company, and the record sales volume achieved during the year resulted in a 32% market share for FY 2014-15.

We have generated 500 employment opportunities at IMC only. The impact is 10 times more on allied industries and vendors.