It all started back in 2006 when the first news circulated that Renault was coming to Pakistan and had many plans for country’s local market, progress was made on its entry to Pakistan to produce Dacia Logan, however in 2007 due to security and economic reasons the company didn’t come; which in my opinion was the most depressing auto news for auto enthusiasts in that particular year. The again the rumors float for many years that Renault is coming, but the French automaker never came.
RELATED: Confirmed: French Automaker Renault is coming to Pakistan
As auto enthusiasts were on the verge of losing hope, again news came in Q1 of 2014 that Dewan Motors is all set to launch Renault Duster/Dacia Duster and will shake the local market by storm. It is pertinent to mention here that Dewan Farooq Motors at that time started production again after the closure, so the news was a hot topic in those days. Many even commented that Dewan Farooq Motors Limited had finalized negotiations with the French automaker ‘Renault’ to introduce a 2.0 liter 4×4, something similar to Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR. But again that time the dream of having a plant of Renault in the country was not materialized.
Moving onwards from 2014 to 15, in September 2015 Renault and Nissan met with the officials of Board of Investment and expressed their desire to build their auto-manufacturing factories in Pakistan.
At the beginning of 2016, the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister and Chairman of the Board of Investment (BOI) Mifta Ismail met with a delegation of Renault, Al Futtaim Group UAE and Ghandhara Nissan Limited, in which GNL proposed to restart the production of vehicles in Pakistan under the new Auto Development Policy 2016-21. Furthermore, the hyped surge in a local market when Renault and Peugeot, the two most iconic French automakers, said that they are interested in investing in Pakistan. The news came in after Finance Minister of Pakistan Ishaq Dar in his four-day visit to France met the representative of both the companies in Paris and briefed them about the new auto policy and improved economic situation of the country. The companies lauded the Pakistani efforts to achieve these milestones.
While giving an interview to a local media outlet in late 2016, Chairman of the Board of Investment (BOI) Mifta Ismail said,
Renault, will invest $100 million to expand the capacity of Ghandhara plant.
However, the talks of Renault and Ghandhara Nissan Limited failed midway, and auto pundits said this was the last nail in the coffin. But In October 2017 the news broke that Renault is joining hands with Al-Futtaim- an Emirati Company to set up a factory in Pakistan to produce vehicles, but the news was not confirmed by both parties.
On 20 November 2017, both companies released a press release which stated that they had signed a definitive agreement and according to the agreement the French automaker will bring its latest products and technology while Al Futtaim will establish a new manufacturing and assembly plant and distribute the cars. It is expected that the companies will be launching Renault Duster in the local market.
A part of a press release states:
As is customary for such projects, the finalization of the transaction remains subject to a number of conditions, mainly relating to relevant regulatory approvals from Pakistani authorities.
The parties expect that the plant will be built starting the first quarter of 2018 in Karachi as per Groupe Renault standards, and car sales are planned to start in 2019, ramping up in 2020.
The news is received with great hopes by auto enthusiasts as after many rumors and failed talks, in the end, Renault is coming to Pakistan.
The purpose of this article was to remove any confusion regarding the Renault and its potential launch in Pakistan. We decided to bring all the available information regarding the French company in chronological order in one place. Sometimes valuable information gets repeated or skipped in the flurry of news. We hope this blog will help you understand how it all started, and what happened when.
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