Toyota Indus Is OK With Auto Policy But No New Small Car In Near Future For Now
Although the overall sales figures of locally produced cars in Pakistan seems small compared to other countries, the rampant increase in the past few months are no doubt projecting a brighter future. During the first ten months of the current fiscal year 2015-16, around 185 thousand units of cars were produced and sold in Pakistan whereas only 151,134 cars were sold in the previous fiscal year. Bear in mind these figures only address the locally made cars and not used imported vehicles.
Most of the cars sold in Pakistan fall in the small car category. But it is kind of unfortunate that there is only one car available in this segment. And that vehicle is Suzuki Mehran. The decades-old 800cc Mehran has been enjoying the small car market on its own for years now. But now it feels like the market has also started to realize this fact.
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CEO Indus Motor Company Parvez Ghias remarked that Toyota Japan taking controlling hold of its subsidiary Daihatsu would have a very positive impact on Pakistani market as well. The CEO was talking to ET and said that approximately 1 million motorcycles are sold in Pakistan, showing a potential in the small car segment as well. And the fact that Toyota Indus Motors didn’t have anything to offer in that sector is unfortunate. The CEO further said that Daihatsu Cuore was discontinued worldwide after the popular hatchback completed its lifecycle. He stated that Toyota Indus Motors has pondered to launch a new small car, but there hasn’t been any progress in this regard.
When asked if Toyota Indus Motors is considering to launch a new car in Pakistan, the CEO said that is too early to say anything. He revealed that Indus Motors is in talks with Toyota Japan in this regard and has informed the Japanese automaker about the need for a smaller car in Pakistan. He preferred not to disclose anything further and said we will announce if there is anything new in the pipeline.
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Mr. Parvez Ghias commented on the Auto Policy 2016-2021 saying that had the government launched the Policy four years ago, the Pakistani consumers would have been enjoying the benefits of the Policy now. He remarked that there would be the positive impact of the new auto policy even after the delay. He said that if the government thinks there is a gap in the current market of Pakistan, and the European automakers can fill that gap, then they should be welcomed. The CEO pointed towards the increasing numbers of used imported vehicles saying that our market still has a lot of room for the new auto assemblers.