Auto Survey by PakWheels.com Unveils New Insights into Pakistan’s Auto Industry
Third edition of the Auto Industry Survey published lately by PakWheels.com, Pakistan’s #1 Auto Portal, has revealed new insights into the automotive sector of Pakistan, including people’s buying and selling habits, patterns and preferences. Due to the large sample size, i.e. 11,000+ respondents, the survey truly reflects the choices and preferences of Pakistanis from all age brackets, industry sectors and income levels.
The survey revealed that 75% of the drivers on Pakistani roads are breaking the law by not complying with the Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1965, which mandatorily requires every car in Pakistan to be insured. According to the survey, only 25% of Pakistanis have their cars insured, which is primarily because they are bank financed and insurance is mandatory for financed cars.
While the violation of insurance specific law could be attributed to lack of knowledge about this ordinance, the fact that significant number of drivers are also driving without a license points to a deeper issue at societal level. Survey revealed that alarming 24% out of the survey respondents drive cars without a license in Pakistan with 41% of them being even below the age of 21 years.
Survey further validated that Toyota Corolla is the most preferred car of Pakistan followed by Honda City, Honda Civic, Suzuki Mehran and Suzuki Cultus respectively. As expected, the market is still dominated by Big 3 brands Suzuki, Toyota and Honda. The anticipated entry of other auto manufacturers in Pakistan, including Nissan, Datsun, Renault, Volkswagen etc. in the near future could give a really tough time to the Big 3 in Pakistan.
The survey has also thrown light onto the car buying habits of Pakistanis with 60% of the respondents buying used cars and 40% buying new cars. Though auto financing has seen rapid growth over last 2 years, yet according to the survey, only 22% of the new car owners and 5% of the used car owners purchased through auto financing or loan. These numbers give a clear indication that banks will witness significant growth in auto financing in the coming days.
While safety, comfort and other features are top of list when it comes to consumer preferences when buying a car in developed markets like US, Europe, etc., the survey revealed that Pakistani customers still consider fuel efficiency and resale value far more important than safety and other features. This could be one of the reasons that certain mandatory safety features like Airbags in western markets are missing from majority of the locally assembled vehicles.
Although YouTube, Facebook, and other online digital mediums have significantly altered the viewing and listening habits of people, they have yet to make significant inroad into car, as survey revealed that a massive 74% of consumers are still listening to radio while driving.
“With 50% of Pakistan’s internet population engaged with us, we take great pride in being the consumer voice when it comes to auto industry and these yearly surveys provide insight into future of auto industry in Pakistan” said Muhammad Raza Saeed, CEO PakWheels.com.
PakWheels.com was established in 2003 and has since then, helped millions of Pakistanis with buying and selling cars, bikes, auto parts; car news, reviews and information.
For detailed results of PakWheels Auto Survey, click here!
correct each and every detail in this report esp. the one about people preferring resale and fuel efficiency. But everyone wants fuel efficiency nowadays even from a bmw audi merc etc and the fact that cars like Corolla (xli and gli variants) and Mehran are so successful here is because of resale. People dont even try out better options for the sake of good resale (as if) due to the market being manipulated by the ‘showrooms’ to the manufacturers. If they deem a car is bad, it is bad. Even if its way better than the locally assembled ones
and why is vehicle insurance mandatory?
Third-party insurance is mandatory. It means if the car hits someone and causes in a large repair or medical bill for the other person, the person who hit the victim cannot use poverty as an excuse, as the insurance company will take up the bill of repair/medical attention.
Comprehensive insurance is not compulsory.
In general the language of the law means that third-parties should be insured for their loss that can be accidentally inflicted upon them by the first-party.
Generally in the car you must keep these things at all the times, otherwise you can be challaned:
1. Small part (running part) of registration book.
2. Driver’s CNIC.
3. Driver’s driving license.
4. Highway codebook.
5. Document of third-party insurance.
6. Authority letter by the owner of the vehicle in case owner is not driving herself.
Insurance companies do not insure cars older than 5 years (unless the insurance is continued, like you bought the car new and continue your contract every year, then even if the car is 10 years old they will renew). It was high time someone complained with Federal insurance ombudsman or in the court.
Till then, ایشین میوچل زندہ باد !
1. It is Auto Industry Survey, but under discussion is not the auto industry, but the people’s driving licenses, insurances, consumer’s preferences and whether consumers listen to radio or use facebook during the commute. Which part of the survey addresses the Auto Industry? Are the majority respondents from Auto Industry or from the consumers?
2. Somehow only cars are under discussion. What about commercial vehicles like rickshaw, buses and trucks? Do you not consider them to be a part of the Auto Industry?
3. In many cases, the choice of words is not right or they have interpreted the result wrong. “75% of the drivers on Pakistani roads are breaking the law by not
complying with the Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance, 1965, which
mandatorily requires every car in Pakistan to be insured”. When did it become the responsibility of the driver to keep the car insured? Surely it is the responsibility of the owner, the owner can be a human being or a non-human entity like a bank or company.
4. If 41% of the respondents were below age 21, then the sample set does not properly represent the target population and there is a large skew towards younger population. On the other hand if it means that 41% of all the people admitting to drive unlicensed are under the age of 21, it does mean that the remaining 59% people are spread over other age groups and therefore the distribution of unlicensed drivers is fairly normal.
5. “only 22% of the new car owners and 5% of the used car owners purchased
through auto financing or loan. These numbers give a clear indication
that banks will witness significant growth in auto financing in the
coming days.” Again, the choice of words. Because few cars are financed/leased, the market has not been fully exploited, but in no way it means that it WILL be exploited. Just because the possibility is big and their is room for expansion does not mean other factors will not come into play. Most people avoid interest, therefore they will avoid car leasing. Most people who buy cars (old/new) are not eligible for loans therefore they will buy on cash. Many people do not prefer even Islamic finance over conventional banking, therefore despite the proliferation of Islamic banking, some people would avoid.
6. “validated that Toyota Corolla is the most preferred car of Pakistan followed by Honda City, Honda Civic, Suzuki Mehran and Suzuki Cultus respectively. As expected, the market is still dominated by Big 3 brands Suzuki, Toyota and Honda. The anticipated entry of other auto manufacturers in Pakistan, including Nissan, Datsun, Renault, Volkswagen etc. in the near future could give a really tough time”.
Again, the choice of words or the interpretation. You yourself write that Corolla is the most preferred vehicle. Now what of competition could the newcomer give? Corolla is most preferred, now even if you offer them Rolls Royce they would not take it, no matter 100 new manufacturers come, people prefer Corolla so they will buy Corolla.
If the respondents of the survey said they do not prefer Corolla, but still the sales figures of Corolla were seen high (from other sources), then it could be interpreted that people are buying Corolla despite not liking it. Only in that case it could be inferred that new entrants could give tough competition. Now people already prefer what they are getting, how can you interpret that any new entrant will give a tough time when people are already preferring the existing.
7. This whole paragraph:
“While safety, comfort and other features are top of list when it comes
to consumer preferences when buying a car in developed markets like US,
Europe, etc., the survey revealed that Pakistani customers still
consider fuel efficiency and resale value far more important than safety
and other features. This could be one of the reasons that certain
mandatory safety features like Airbags in western markets are missing
from majority of the locally assembled vehicles.”
First, why you compare only with Western markets like USA, Europe etc. while in fact Eastern markets like India, China, Japan and South East Asia are also very big markets and very big manufacturers of vehicles also?
Second, the logic is basically flawed. The logic basically says, “since” people give lower preference to safety & comfort features, “therefore” these features are missing from our local cars.
Let’s try the same logic for fuel efficiency, which is the first priority for Pakistani consumer as per this survey. As per your logic, car manufacturers must have given highly fuel efficient cars since it is the priority of consumers. While in reality it did not happen, Paksuzuki did not introduce EFI in their cars until it became necessary due to emissions regulations from the government, the 2012 onwards models which came with EFI proved to be more fuel efficient. And Honda did not introduce Civic with 1600cc for years even though it was purportedly more fuel efficient than R18, and people were complaining about the consumption of 1800cc. If your logic was correct, then the automakers would have given out fuel efficient vehicles just because it is number one priority for consumers.
Third, yourself write “mandatory” safety features. So somehow you prove yourself wrong in that those features are not decided because of consumer’s choice but because they are made “mandatory” by the government regulatory authorities.
Fourth, manufacturers did not do anything particular to increase the resale value. Availability of spare parts, making it easy to repair, making available trained mechanics, nothing has been done by the manufacturers to increase the resale value. Going by your logic, manufacturers must have done that because they supposedly listen to public demand.
Fifth, everybody everywhere looks for resale value. Camry is so popular in USA because of resale value. USA has its own Kelley’s Blue Book for resale value. Kelley’s Blue Book is having a fine time and it is not dying out. Why? Because people in USA refer to it for resale values. Of course people in USA are interested in resale value that is why they have developed, maintained and keep updated a resale value assessment system and publish it regularly. On the other hand sellers and purchasers also refer to the Kelley’s Blue Book. Now you tell who is more crazed about resale? Americans or Pakistanis?
Though I’m bashing writers for their plagiarism attempts and was able to take down at least one article on pakwheels.
1. I guess etc includes all auto markets where safety features are preferred.
2. The models that are successful in Pakistan are highly fuel efficient for price, corolla 1.3 is offered no where except Pakistan, in most market honda city was sold with 1.5 litre engine, 1.8 litre too in China but we were offered 1.3 due to class leading economy, The fuel economy difference between efi and carburettor Suzuki mehran, bolan isn’t much except that carburettor needs specific tuning for one’s driving style for maximum efficiency where as efi adapts instantaneously.
3. since our govt. is democratic so yes the policies do represent our population to some extent.
4. manufacturers enjoy resale because of oligopoly of big three, why’d they do anything in particular when “naam hi kaafi ha” is working for them due to no competition?
5. camry is popular for resale value, it enjoys resale for being reliable as labor cost for mechanics is too damn high over there but still you can see a variety of vehicles everywhere, infact the need of such resale value assessment system arises from the point that people aren’t aware of all vehicles, variants, trim and equipments offered in their market so a person having knowledge in JDM vehicles doesn’t get looted when buying a used American truck. we don’t need such system because no. of models offered a year can be counted on fingertips. this shows our obsession with resale that we don’t get any other model get successful or faw xpv is a much better option than bolan. there is a variety of kei cars available here but why do people prefer alto and mira? due to resale mentality. thats why you see a gli in the garage of both a rent wala and a person who can afford a v8 as well. such mentality is the product of our economic (that I don’t blame as one is just being rational) and social(that i’d blame as our society is so judgmental, a person having daughters needs to spend a fortune for their marriage where he could be enjoying his life on the same money) constraints.
People buy corolla and suzuki because they are time tested and are the most reliable cars and parts are also readily available and are not very expensive and yes combine these things with fuel efficiency that is main reason why corolla 1.3 has the better resale than 1.6 and 1.8. They give you services for a long period of time. They are also better suited for commercial purposes like in pakistan mahran is used as taxis because the maintenance is very easy and very cheap.
Trend is changing with time. I remember when auto transmission cars had no resale but now people are buying more and more auto transmission cars. People now also discuss cars and their features like air bags and ABS etc.
Well Said
@Admin: Are there any updates to the Pakwheels Auto Industry Survey 2015?