Pakistan decided to take a leap of faith by finally passing the automotive policy, and it is safe to claim that thus far it has been highly beneficial for the country. Many carmakers, investments, jobs and auto industry-related innovations are going to follow in the years ahead after the passage of the auto policy.
Objectively speaking, the new auto-policy hopes to spur action into these key points for the next five years to come:
Perhaps the biggest talking point of the policy is the manner in which new foreign investors have been attracted. According to the policy, any new foreign investor looking to set up a car assembly in Pakistan will be given incentives such as lower taxes for a fixed period of time, and discounts on import and exports of automotive goods, and more.
Here are 10 developments in the Pakistani auto sector that happened this year which shows that our country is all set to usher in change in the lives of consumers and the greater local auto industry alike.
Suzuki offered the Pakistani government a handsome amount of money to overturn the new auto-policy, the realization of which, would eventually succeed in breaking their monopoly in Pakistan. The government, however, decided not to take the investment and carried on with their usual plans.
Days later, the Managing Director of Pak Suzuki Motors said that his company is ready to invest $460 million in Pakistan to set up a second plant.
According to the details provided to the government, the new project will be completed within a period of two years and may start production by the end of 2018.
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The new auto policy, devised to seek foreign investment, seems to be working fluidly. Kia, ranked as the most reliable car manufacturer in 2016 and is one of the top 20 most valuable car brands, has announced that it will be making an investment in the Pakistani market.
The project is to be set up and established in Pakistan, which shall undertake the manufacturing, assembling, marketing, distribution, import and export of all types of Kia motor vehicles.
Lucky Cement will help in setting up operations of Kia Motors in Pakistan through its investments. The cement producer will make an investment of Rs. 12 billion through 1.2 billion shares worth Rs 10 per share each in the automobile company.
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After Kia, Pakistan were successful in securing another deal with a big name auto company from Europe. The company followed up on Ishaq Dar’s visit where he met with the representatives of the Renault company. Few days later, Renault accepted Pakistan’s invitation and announced to start assembling cars in Pakistan by 2018, which was confirmed by Board of Investment (BoI).
The BoI chief informed that Renault will aim to focus on SUVs and sedan cars. Moreover, Nissan cars will also be revived after the plant is completely set up.
In 2013, Renault was the eleventh biggest automaker in the world by production volume. Arrival of the company in Pakistan is another step towards the right direction.
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The increase in competition is healthy in any scenario. With the arrival of new competitors in the market, the existing giants including Suzuki, Honda, Toyota and Audi decided to bring out new car models.
The launch has already got the crowd excited. Here’s a look at some of the cars which were announced in 2016:
Research Octane Number (RON) is a general measure of quality for vehicle grade petroleum. The higher the RON of the petrol is, greater the quality of it will be. Spurred into action after we reported on the matter, big players in the petroleum industry such as Shell agreed to sell higher quality petrol in Pakistan, a big win for consumers.
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