Peugeot 2008 to Launch Soon in Pakistan

Lucky Motor Corporation (LMC), the same company that reintroduced Kia in Pakistan, is likely to launch the Peugeot 2008 SUV later this month.

The price of the 1200cc turbo, subcompact crossover SUV will probably be between Rs. 4.8 million and Rs. 5.5 million, Business Recorder reported.

The introduction of Peugeot 2008 will make Lucky Motors the only company in Pakistan currently associated with multiple automotive companies under its brand name.

The Peugeot 2008 SUV is manufactured by the Peugeot Société Anonyme (PSA) group, a French multinational automotive manufacturing company that was taken over by the Stellantis Group. The latter is an automotive manufacturing corporation with a presence in more than 130 markets and industrial operations spread across nearly 30 countries.

Tahir Abbas, the Head of Research at Arif Habib Limited (AHL), remarked that the launch of Peugeot by LMC indicates that “a local company will be launching multiple brands” after decades, and that that it will add healthy competition to Pakistan’s auto market.

The exclusive importer of BMW vehicles to Pakistan, Dewan Farooque Motors, had also partnered with multiple Korean brands, including Kia and Hyundai, in the 2000s but the collaborations were short-lived.

LMC had launched Kia Stonic, a crossover (B-segment) subcompact SUV, and the Kia Sorento SUV in three different variants last year, including 2.4-liter all-wheel drive (AWD), a 2.4-liter front-wheel drive (FWD), and a 3.5-liter FWD.

The CEO of Lucky Motors, Asif Rizvi, revealed that the company has concentrated on creating more competition between auto companies. He said,

We strategized that we wanted to be an SUV-only company. People across the world are migrating toward SUVs. In fact, globally in the last couple of years, there has been a decline in overall auto sales but an increase in the sales of SUVs. Sportage created its own segment, the newly-launched Stonic is part of the small SUV segment while Peugeot will create its own segment being a very modern-styled European vehicle. Sorento has filled the gap between Sportage and the large SUV of our competitor.

For decades, Pakistan’s auto market was led by Japanese companies, such as Suzuki, Toyota, and Honda, but was transformed in recent years with the entry of Korean brands, including Hyundai and Kia.

Some experts look forward to the local auto industry recording high growth in the upcoming years but many others are of the view that the Pakistani market is still not big enough to absorb so many players.