These Affordable Small Chinese Cars Can Be A Great Option For Buyers In Pakistan
We have been getting a lot of requests from our readers to cover small Chinese cars that are comparable to the cheapest option in Pakistan, which is the Suzuki Mehran, concerning pricing and specs. While there are a few new options introduced by our auto assemblers recently such as the Fortuner and Toyota Prius, Kizashi by Suzuki and the HRV by Honda, the vehicle is way out of the reach of a typical buyer and cater to a very limited sector of consumers.
Even if you plan to get a used imported JDM you still have to spend a million to buy one. Unfortunately, Mehran remains the only option of a buyer with a limited budget and considering price at which it is available, it’s not at all justified to go for one. People are now realizing the worth of their money, and it’s understandable why they don’t want to spend some 750 thousand rupees on a 26-year-old car that used to cost just 90 thousand rupees when it was new!
Also Read: Chinese Electric Cars in Pakistan – Shifeng D101
Due to this reason, Chinese cars always give people hope that they can get some modern yet cheaper vehicles in a decent amount of money. We have emphasized it several times that the Chinese cars being made today are miles ahead in quality compared to the ones that appeared in our market in the previous decade. The Chinese vehicles are getting better year after year and have started to become recognized globally.
A lot of 660cc Japanese Kei cars are being imported to our country recently; however, don’t expect that stuff from China. You won’t find such smaller engines in Chinese vehicles because China wants to lessen its dependence on conventional fuel and encourage the development of Hybrids and Electric Vehicles instead. There are several Chinese companies that manufacture EVs and Hybrids in China, more than any country of the world and the number of available options can be counted in dozens.
Also Read: Chinese Cars That Stunned The World Part 1 and 2
It won’t make sense to publish those cars here since our infrastructure is far from accommodating Electric Vehicles, so let’s leave it there. We have shortlisted a few options that are available for less than 1 million PKR (after straight conversion). Import duties play an important role in pricing the vehicles, but they can be in a similar range if assembled here. We look forward to our government to encourage automakers including the Chinese, to operate here and generate competition in the automobile sector.
BYD F0
The BYD F0 is a copy of Toyota Aygo and comes with a 1.0-liter engine that produces 67hp and is available in manual as well as AMT (Automated Manual Transmission). BYD claims that the fuel consumption of F0 is around 22 km per liter. Price stars from 37,900 yuan (5.9 lac PKR) to up to 47,900 yuan (7.5 lac PKR).
Changan BenBen Mini
Changan, who is also the joint venture partner of Suzuki in China, managed to get the technology of the 7th generation Alto and developed their own super mini car, the BenBen Mini. The BenBen Mini is equipped with a DOHC 1.0-liter engine, which produces 70 horses and meets the Euro IV emission standards. Available in manual as well as IMT (Intelligent Manual Transmission) the BenBen Mini is priced from 36,900 yuan (5.7 lac PKR) to 49,900 yuan (7.8 lac PKR).
Geely Panda
Panda comes with a 1.0-liter engine and with a 5-star crash test rating is considered among the safest Chinese hatchbacks. Panda also known as Geely LC is exported to several parts of the world. Price starts from 36,900 yuan (5.7 lac PKR) to 42,900 yuan (6.7 lac PKR).
JAC J2 Yueyue
Jac J2 also known as Yueyue comes with a 1-liter engine with 68bhp, and Euro IV emission levels. With a good reputation in export markets, the J2 Yueyue is priced at 38,800 yuan (6.0 lac PKR) to 41,800 yuan (6.5 lac PKR).
Chery QQ
While we still see QQ cars that entered our market in 2005, the QQ in China looks totally different. Available in both manual and AMT transmission the price of QQ starts from 37,900 yuan (5.9 lac PKR) to 50,900 yuan (7.9 lac PKR).
Brilliance Dolphin
Recently launched in the Chinese market by Brilliance Motors who manufacture BMW vehicles in China, this car was aimed to compete with Chery QQ. Power comes from a 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine with 88hp, mated to a five-speed manual transmission. Price starts from 39,800 yuan (6.2 lac PKR) and ends at 45,800 yuan (7.1 lac PKR).
Zotye Z100
Zotye Z100 is the cheapest car available in China; it is powered by a 1.0 four-cylinder engine with 56hp, mated to a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic transmission. Price starts from just 30,000 yuan (4.7 lac PKR) to 35,000 yuan (5.4 lac PKR). Zotye once showed interest in setting up a joint-venture in Pakistan as well.
Rather than offering vehicles exceeding a price tag of 3 million, our automakers should focus on offering more affordable cars within the reach of masses. The second part of this series will cover Chinese sedans that are available within 1 million price range, stay tuned.
Nice Compilation, Thanks for yet another good article.
How to buy Changan BenBen Mini in pakistan ?
Its Worthless.. as these are not available here..
How can we buy any of these cars.
excitement builds..
but oh we can’t buy these.
return to your Mehrans people.
Give us info on Chinese hybrid cars also.plz.
I mean like byd e6
Next in line is article for sedans. Then hybrids maybe.
While the writer has been following Chinese car industry since long, Possibly the writer has not seen those cars for himself specially from a long term ownership perspective.
China is geographically huge country and it is common to find cars having multimillion km on the odo (somewhat similar to USA). Unfortunately these cars do not cut it as they are not equally durable compared to the Made in China cars of the foreign brands. Therefore the sale numbers of these cars are much lower than the sale numbers of those. These cars are kinda disposable, sort of.
Local models are also more prone to rust.
Another reason could be that Chinese people do not like microscopic cars. Even the small cars sold in China have long-wheel base version. The fact that roads are big and wide also contributes, compared to Pakistan where even the existing roads which were narrow at conception, have many lanes of street vendors, beggars, qabza mosques and no concept of lane marking, making the already claustrophobic roads even more congested.
BYD F0 has a very low ground clearance, even less than some saloon cars. It will be a complete disaster in Pakistan. The others, can never be seen on roads. Ok, maybe the Chery QQ, but you’ll always see the new model, because older models do not last long enough to be seen on the roads after a decade.
Local cars also consume more fuel. People would rather buy an expensive car (it is easier to cough up money once) and then save money on fuel, rather than buy a cheaper car and then the budget every month goes out of pocket because of high fuel consumption.
Overall build quality of local cars is much lesser.
Also, made in China cars for local market and export market have different build quality. In some cases, export models are built to be more durable, in some cases, they are built to be lesser.
What Pakistani consumer needs is the following features:
1. Small on the outside, big on the inside.
2. High ground clearance.
3. High air intake (for deep water fording in rains and torrents).
4. Short stopping distance.
5. Good visibility and small blind spots (given our motorbike culture).
6. Pakistanis have big families so need a people carrier. Families in China are small.
7. High tail-light because tail light is usually hit by motorcycle handles and gets broken. It is a major part of repair every month for many Pakistani car owners.
8. Simple engine with simple electronics.
9. Comfortable on bad roads.
These features can easily be found in some small CUV. Examples are Zotye T200 etc.
One very important point in the article is noted and it cannot be emphasized much. It is that 10 years ago some ugly and not durable Chinese cars were introduced to Pakistani market. Recently Chinese car makers have improved by leaps and bounds. The newer cars are much better than what was introduced a few years ago.
Im LITERALLY SOLD on EACH ONE OF THESE !
Great Cars … would love to own the Zotye , for obvious reasons , as well as the Full Automatic Transmission but BYD FO also appeals to me due to its Impressive exterior and me being a fan of AMT !
boy , would love to see all these brands in Pakistan asap ! I long to see the day when we can buy these cars without any hurdle and free from the govt’s tax infestation which unfairly hikes the prices so much !
Please let the auto policy accommodate car makers like these !
Thanks Usman bhai , for this article 🙂
looking forward to the next !
FAW is working on assembling V2 locally. Which might bring down its price significantly. Karakoram motors has been selling Chery n some Changan old vans since ages. They should work do bring modern cars like new QQ or Benben mini and assemble right here.
highly endorse your Point of view. the more local assemblies , the more the chance of crazily affordable cars for us !
sad !
Chinese hybrids are quite expensive to be honest. Won’t be practical to bring those here.
what about EVs ? those running PURELY on AC motors and charged by the power outlets that we use to run home appliances ?
I’m not expecting anything favorable for consumers in the auto policy but let’s be optimistic.
Karakoram did import some Lifan sedans and Chery Storm and they were spotted on the roads as well but nothing shaped up. Will post them in my next article about Chinese sedans
Expensive too
aww mann 🙁
Karakoram employees still use those cars for their personal use.
“but nothing shaped up”
this is fast becoming a common phrase in pakistan … and for all the wrong reasons. :/
i guess only time will tell. all we can do is hope.
looking forward to your next articles , even if it only means that all we’ll ever get is some pics and some bloody good specs which we can only ogle our eyes at and never get to try em out in flesh !
Awareness.. Regardless if Chinese cars come here or not, people now realize what should they expect against the money they pay. In the same amount of money world enjoys much better and safer vehicles than we do.
agreed.
no harsh to anyone, in my opinion none of these cars looks specially (front face) excites me except somewhat a bit modern look will rate only for “BYD FO” but its back thumbs down
We should import chinese hybrid and electrical cars……
I’m a student on China and have that BYD F0. Really an car and much cheaper than Mehran. Bought it for 10000yuan (160,000 Rs). Really want to have this car in Pakistan.
Very informative and well written
The chery qq here isint that bad, looks a bit like the VW Up