Al-Haj Proton recently took the first promising step towards gaining traction in the Pakistani car market by inaugurating the local car assembling facility in Karachi.
A recent report from a renowned Malaysian car news outlet, paultan.org, suggests that the company has imported the final batch of Proton X70 in Completely Built-Up (CBU) form.
Also, the company will begin importing the Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits for the SUV to be locally assembled in Pakistan, starting from December 2021. The report adds that the company has also begun the commercial production of the Saga sedan in Pakistan.
These are positive developments for the automaker indeed, as it has been struggling to gain momentum in the Pakistani market ever since the launch. The problem was due to the devastating wave of COVID-19 in Malaysia, that forced the entire country into lockdown, shutting off the production lines of all automakers as a result.
Other issues such as supply chain crisis, raw material shortage, chip shortage, etc. had a role in the slow progress as well, which has impacted the demand and popularity of Proton vehicles in the Pakistani market as well.
However, given their prices and features, both Proton Saga and X70 are ‘strong value for money’ vehicles that deserve the attention of the public. Given their value-proposition, there is a likelihood that the company would flourish in Pakistan, once their supply gets up to speed with the demand.
