It has been almost three months since the implementation of the Automotive Industry Development and Export Plan (AIDEP) 2021-26 which provided a number of benefits to the automakers in Pakistan to increase business for locally manufactured vehicles in Pakistan.
Most of the benefits have been reserved for Electric Vehicles and Hybrid Electric Vehicles under the Automotive Industry Development and Export Plan 2021-26 but the government thinks that these incentives have led to a vast increase in the imports of high-end vehicles. Consequently, the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP) has proposed that the rate of Regulatory Duties on the import of Completely Built-Up Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) be increased to 50 percent.
According to our source, this increase in the Regulatory Duties (RD) has not been enacted by the government. He explained that the government is considering making this change to improve the current account deficit caused by a large number of imports.
The source added that the matter will be discussed in the upcoming meeting of the Traffic Police Board.
The following are the recommendations to discourage the import of EVs as CBUs:
The Pakistani car market is yet to see the results of the benefits offered to the car industry under the new auto policy. This is because it will take some time for the automakers to adapt to the government’s goals of the local manufacturing of EVs and HEVs in Pakistan while it has been only three months since the launch of the AIDEP 2021-26.
However, reports suggest that the imports of high-end CBU EVs increased significantly during the last few months, which implies that the government might have to go back to the drawing board and reassess the EV policy.