Toyota is Sorry for Delay in Car Deliveries
The Pakistani auto industry is going through a rough patch for multiple reasons. New car bookings are closed, and deliveries of already booked cars are late. Of all the companies, Toyota Indus has issued an official apology for late car deliveries.
Toyota says the company is unable to meet the tentative delivery timelines of pending orders due to State Bank’s LC approval constraint for CKD import and drastic rupee devaluation. The company will soon announce the revised delivery schedule as well as the reopening of bookings.
Reason Behind Late Deliveries
The biggest challenge for the automakers is the import of Completely Knocked Down (CKD) kits for the local assembly of cars. The companies have to get their Letters of Credit (LCs) for the import of CKD kits approved by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The bank has closed the issuance of LCs in a measure to stabilise the economy.
As the dollar rate is increasing and the value of Pakistani rupee is depreciating, the government wants to put a check on the dollar spending. Since the car companies import CKD kits and pay in dollars, they increase the country’s dollar expenses. So, the bank is not issuing the LCs for the CKD kits to help the government control the import bill and slow down the economy.
But all this is affecting the automakers and their customers. The companies are hopeful that the government will lift the restrictions on the import of CKD kits, and SBP will reopen the issuance of LCs as soon as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) resumes its loan program with Pakistan. If not, the auto sector will suffer, and so will the consumers.
Long story short, the government has put a complete ban on the import of CBU cars and halted the import of CKD kits. The customers who have booked their new cars are waiting for deliveries. Nice of Toyota to inform its customers about the delayed car deliveries, hope others follow and let their customers know.