Rupee’s Free-fall, Car Prices & Bookings – A New Episode
Where already prevailing economic meltdown has shattered the entire industry, including the auto sector, the recent free-fall of the Pakistani rupee added more pain to the local car assemblers.
The fresh episode commenced with currency plunged by Rs. 24.54 to a record low of Rs. 255.43 in interbank yesterday – recorded as the major downtrend since the new exchange rate system was introduced in 1999. And interestingly, the depreciation doesn’t conclude here – the rupee continued to witness a steep dip in the interbank even today, trading at Rs 262.6 per dollar. Meaning, the Pakistani rupee devalued again by Rs. 7.17 from the last close.
Above is all of how the rupee performed after the unofficial cap on it was removed—now, narrating the whole story of how the devaluation of a currency against the mighty dollar added to the ongoing financial apocalypse, which in turn nudge the local carmakers to take strict and immediate decisions.
Car Companies Suspend Bookings
1. KIA Lucky Motors
After the Japanese car franchises in the country dubbed Honda, Toyota and Suzuki increased their car prices, KIA took the step and closed the booking of all cars.
A number of company dealerships have told PakWheels.com that all models’ bookings are closed now. “From noon today, the bookings are closed,” the dealerships informed. Different dealership officials say the current deliverable stock of all cars is finished. “The company is not taking the orders for new productions as yet,” the dealerships stated. Furthermore, there is no information about when the bookings will be open again, so if you are a Kia customer, you have no other option but to wait.
2. Peugeot Pakistan
Following the Korean carmaker KIA, the French company has also announced “no bookings” till further notice. Previously, closed LCs and import curbs inflicted by the State Bank of Pakistan eroded the production power of car companies. And now, the country’s not beating economic pulse seeded the new storm.
3. Changan Pakistan
There were also updates regarding Changan Pakistan closing car bookings. We contacted the company’s official to verify the news. The response read:
“Technically not true. The booking quota at dealers is exhausted due to campaign response.We have not uploaded the new regular price quota yet. We will upload new quota once economic conditions are clear.”
Price Hike Series 2023
Depleting foreign reserves aggravated the prevalent economic fuss – gave birth to a new inflationary spiral pushing inflation to a new high. In turn, the local car companies announced the first hike of 2023. Honda Atlas, Toyota Indus Motor, and Pakistan Suzuki Motors increased their car prices, and the rest of the companies will follow and increase rates in the coming days.
What do you think about the ongoing economic crisis and its effect on the local car industry? Tell us in the comments section.
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