Dewan Group, at the time of launching imported BMW vehicles in Pakistan, had announced that they would start assembling BMW from 2006. However, 2006 has arrived and there has been no further news on the issue.
On the other hand, a Dubai based group (Coastal Group, I think, not Kanooz Group, datz! - Kanooz al Watan is Saudi Arabia based) plans to assemble Mercedes-Benz car, trucks and buses in Pakistan. Read the news item below:
KARACHI: A Middle East firm has expressed interest to establish a factory on 1,000 acres of land in Sindh for manufacturing vehicles of Mercedez company.
The company would undertake manufacturing of cars, buses and trucks and offer employment opportunities to 5,000 people.
The project came under discussion during the meeting of a seven-member delegation headed by State Minister for Investment and Privatisation, Umer Ahmed Ghuman, with Sindh Chief Minister Dr. Arbab Ghulam Rahim at Chief Minister House on Monday. Umer Ahmed Ghuman told the meeting that five hundred people would be imparted specialised training in Dubai prior to their induction in the company.
He further said a Sports City would be constructed in Karachi at a cost of Rs2.5 billion which would be similar to Dubai Sports City. This would be one of the unique cities of Asia in which 50,000 people would get jobs, he added.
Grounds for all sorts of sports would be part of this city in which 13 to 15 large size modern hotels would also be built. The project also envisages construction of 10,000 housing units for poor while 20,000 units would be made for government employees.
Soon after allotment of land for the purpose a team of the company from Dubai would arrive here to initiate work on the mega project within two to three months. - APP
[The Statesman, November 23, 2005]