2400cc Honda Accord by month end
Saturday, June 04, 2005
By Arshad Hussain
KARACHI: Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Ltd will introduce ‘American Honda Accord’ with a 2400cc power engine in the country by the end of this month, which is being directly imported from Japan, industry sources told Daily Times here on Friday.
“American Honda Accord model will give a tough competition to Toyota Camy, imported by the Indus Motor in February,” said a Honda’s authorized dealer, who requested anonymity. “Honda Accord car, whose cost has been set around Rs 2.5 million, would be introduced by the end of June,” he added. Toyota Camy is being sold at Rs 3.1 million.
This model is most popular on the American roads. “It will sweep the market among its categories model,” the dealer said, adding that the new Accord is fully loaded with facilities which a customer demands in a vehicle.
The price of this model might further reduce “if the finance ministry shrinks taxes on the import of new cars in the forthcoming budget”, the dealer said.
Recently, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) allowed the Suzuki Motor Pakistan and other assemblers to import 1350cc cars under the slab of 1300cc car. This indicates that Suzuki motor is also going to import Complete Build Unit (CBU) from Japan in the coming months. H.M. Shahzad, chairman of Pakistan Motor Dealers Association (PMDA), said the federal government was only facilitating the local car manufacturers and assemblers by allowing them import of the CBU and they were importing heavy vehicles into the country.
“Pakistan is an state of middle class people and there is a demand for small cars from 550cc to 1300cc cars,” he said.
The federal government should announce a reduction in the depreciation cost up to 2 percent to 3 percent per month on used cars and the dealers should be allowed import of up to 5 years’ used cars, he said and suggested that the government should reduce the import duty from 25 percent to 30 percent.
“This is the only way to shrink the demand and supply gap in the auto industry,” Shahzad claimed.
Faraz Farooq, an analyst at Jahangir Siddiqui and Co, said the government was likely to reduce the import duty on CBUs in the range of 15-25 percent in the forthcoming budget to be announced on June 6. However, it had been proposed that a reduction should also be made on CKD import so as to protect the local auto industry, he added.
In the last budget 2004-05, duty on CBUs was reduced by 25-55 percent to bring the duty in the range of 50-100 percent (depending upon the engine size) while no reduction was made on CKDs, which remained at 35 percent. “Government is also considering duty reduction on import of steel products from 25 percent to 20 percent to meet the demand of housing and auto industry,” the analyst said.
“Any reduction in import duty on CBUs in the forthcoming budget is expected to narrow the demand-supply gap, which currently stands at around 40,000 units,” he said. “Moreover, it will also reduce the delivery period.” Currently, import duty on CBUs is in 4 slabs ranging from 50 percent to 100 percent. On cars below 1350cc, there is 50 percent import duty (this slab was recently increased from 1300cc). On 1350cc to 1,600cc cars, the import duty is 70 percent.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_4-6-2005_pg5_10
