Small car prices to go down by Rs100,000 in Pakistan

Small car prices in Pakistan are likely to go down by Rs100,000, according to the federal minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtiar.

While speaking at a press conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, the federal minister said that the economy has been stabilized and now the country is heading towards growth.

He stated the government intends to ensure international standards in the auto industry.

“Last year, 2,600,000 motorcycles were produced,” he said. “Around 3 million motorcycles will be produced next year.”

This would also create 375,000 jobs in the auto sector, the minister added.

“It is a sector of Rs1200 billion and pays Rs350 billion in taxes,” he said. “We have to go towards exports.”

The minister said that whoever wants to buy a car will have to register it under their name.

“Whoever registers the car has to book it,” Bakhtiar said, adding that the vehicles will be booked online.

He, however, said the registration won’t be time-bound.

“There will be Rs50,000 to Rs200,000 fine. We may make it 10% of the car’s value,” he added,

According to the minister, this will squeeze the wiggle room for people trying to manipulate the market with “own” money.

“Now the ACD is 0% on 1,000cc and 2% for above 1,000cc,” he announced, adding that it has been approved by the cabinet.

“We believe in market mechanisms,” Bakhtiar said. “If in Pakistan fair prices and quality had to be ensured, we have to ensure reasonable protection between locally made and imported ready-made cars.”

But there is a challenge of under-invoicing, according to the minister.

“We have to see how much protection to offer if we want to improve localization,” he said. “The auto sector should not have ‘mun manga’ profit for bad quality.”

Bakhtiar added that the government won’t allow imports after a certain limit.

“But it will have to see how much of an outlay in foreign exchange this would mean,” he said. “We are taking the auto policy to the cabinet in August. We may rationalize the import duties further,” he said.

Summary of today’s press conference:

• The 660cc Alto will go down by Rs100,000
• Toyota Yaris will go down by Rs150,000
• If the delivery of the car is delayed by over 60 days, the carmaker will have to pay the customer KIBOR and 3% in penalty
• The person who books the car will register it in their name
• There will be online booking and you will be able to tell which stage your vehicle is at
• Car registration will be time-bound, with penalties from Rs50,000 to Rs200,000