The government of Pakistan has seemingly delivered on its promise to make it nearly impossible for people to buy imported cars.
Last week, Federal Minister of Finance Miftah Ismail removed the import ban on luxury and non-essential items including Completely Built-Up (CBU) cars. He stated that the government will impose heavy taxes on non-essential imports to save the dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
According to reports, the board has hiked regulatory duties to 100% from the previous 15% on the import of vehicles with engine capacity larger than 1000cc. This implies that the following CBUs are set to witness a massive increase in prices:
Note: This list consists of the most popular imported CBU cars in Pakistan.
| Vehicles | Current Price (Rs.) |
| Toyota | |
| Corolla Cross Base Grade | 12,249,000 |
| Corolla Cross Mid Grade | 13,099,000 |
| Corolla Cross High Grade | 13,419,000 |
| Prius S | 14,649,000 |
| Rush G Manual | 8,009,000 |
| Rush G Automatic | 8,329,000 |
| Camry | 23,319,000 |
| Honda | |
| CR-V | 10,700,000 |
| Accord | 15,499,000 |
| Suzuki | |
| Jimny | 6,049,000 |
| APV | 6,290,000 |
| Kia | |
| Carnival GLS | 10,199,000 |
| Carnival GLS+ | 12,599,000 |
| Carnival Executive | 12,600,000 |
| Hyundai | |
| IONIQ | 7,000,000 |
| Santa Fe | 18,500,000 |
| Staria 3.5 Automatic | 7,199,000 |
| Staria 2.2D Manual | 7,349,000 |
| Staria 2.2D Automatic | 7,749,000 |
| Staria HGS | 9,299,000 |
| MG | |
| HS 1.5T | 8,900,000 |
| HS PHEV | 8,499,000 |
| ZS 1.5 | 4,399,000 |
| ZS EV | 6,250,000 |
| ZS EV Facelift | 7,017,000 |
The government has also imposed 35% additional customs duties on the import of vehicles under the following PCT codes:
The government has discouraged the import and sales of luxury cars and SUVs in Pakistan. Its recent steps have begun impacting car demand in Pakistan with sales and car financing falling compared to previous months.
Experts speculate that these steps will further aggravate the struggles of the Pakistani car industry which is already plagued with inflationary and supply-chain issues.