Disappointed with the launch of Kia Picanto

[hasan.amankhan123]

Ever since I heard that more car manufacturers are coming to Pakistan and they will enhance the current market with their new innovative new products, I and many Pakistanis like me were excited. Initially Kia came up with high end cars targeting upper class (which is not a very big audience to go for) like Sportage and Grand Carnival but today (14th, September, 2019) Kia rang some bells for a majority of car enthusiasts in Pakistan by initiating pre-bookings of Kia Picanto (a 1000cc hatch back). I expected this car to be a competitor to Suzuki Cultus directly, As Suzuki Cultus is a pretty good car in its own league and it would have been nice to have a healthy competition when you had a budget of less than 2 million for a new car. By what I have heard it has very similar features like Suzuki's counterpart but it failed miserably in price race. The whole point of welcoming new car in industry was to present better options in affordable range otherwise people have what they have trusted for decades for a good resale premium, parts availability and wide network of dealerships. Kia failed to attract at-least me towards their new entrant.

You may disagree but Kia failed badly. But in the most optimistic way possible it is a small win for Pakistan's Auto Industry which is declining but still is ready to welcome a new entrant and increase choices in car market.

[hash737]

Absolutely. Kia and hyundai penetrated international market by offering more options in lesser price. Kia thought they might get away by not implementing same model of penetration in pakistan only time can prove them severely wrong.

To be honest cultus is 10x more reliable thn this obsolete gen of picanto. Kia doesnt even have a dealership in islamabad LOOOL. I dont know why they messed up with pricing mate. They had everything in order till last month it was launching for 1.5 i don't know what went wrong really.

[carfreak3]

2 million for a 1000cc car! 5.3 million for SUV.

This is the new auto industry we were waiting for!!

KIA Sportage in Canada starts at $25,000. With conversion @ 117 PKR, the price 2.9 million PKR. I m not including taxes as in the developed world, the dealer offer deep discounts as next models arrive in September and they want to clear inventory.

https://www.kia.ca/vehicles/sportage/overview?sourceid=nav

KIA Picanto is almost same price in Pakistan as in UK.

https://www.kia.com/uk/new-cars/picanto/pricing/

At these prices, how many units will they sell? This new entrant is doomed for failure before its even established.

Pakistan needs auto industry that fills in small car segments that are affordable cars. These cars at these prices wont be selling much.

Dont expect any miracles from new entrants. Its the small size of the market that does not allow volume sales. This is the reason assemblers bring higher priced cars as there is a bigger margin of profit.

Pakistan total new car sales is in range of 150,000 units per annum. VW plant in Germany produces 45,000 units everyday. Now just imagine. If VW were to produce all cars sold in Pakistan in a year, it will operate for only 3 days in a year. This is how small our market is.

[ali454]

One of the reasons for a small new car market in Pakistan is because there is no concept of scrapping a car, like in Europe.

We dont let cars die which ideally are disposable items. The older cars keep on running for years.

[mehran]

I completely agree with @hash737, as the only way Kia and Hyundai took over world markets was through cut throat pricing and offering long long warranties. But in Pakistan Kia really messed it up. Competing against the well established Suzuki Cultus with same pricing and options is suicide. Let's see what happens, though I'm not very optimistic.

[aliaamir0335]

no one is going to invest in country. so relax

[F1]

when the day would come when we will see cars just like 'peanuts' like we see in rest of the world & not 'luxuries' as we have over here ... insane !

[hasan.amankhan123]

Insha ALLAH

[anon35615524]

And the most prime factor for prolonged service is the affordability and buying power of the people here, which is quite small. We can't compare purchasing power of the people of Pakistan, with CA, USA, Europe, or any other filly developed country.

[NASRUM]

it is overpriced very much but i think the reason behind is they are trying to recover there investment also we need to remember there is not only one firm who have invested for kia cars but there is also Lucky people so this so called competition is invested by 2 giant firms both need to feed themselves & want a return & they're trying by overcharging a similar example was tesla when intially sold cars for not less then 100,000k but the prices gradually went down now they are making similar cars in 35k$ starting its just overall very poor scenario dollar is appreciated there is sales tax + fed almost 20+ % tax on every car ,also cars are expensive this is why demand is low ,in india kia is selling suv for 15 lakh inr much loaded then sportage we have a tiny outdated dinky for 20 lakh ik there is difference of curreny but pak k log to pkr me he kamayeinge no matter where dollar go also gormint is fully supporting these overpricing maybe they want pakistan more of rikshaw country then cars country lol even with new entrants i honestly don't see cars pries ever falling down in pak a 30 year old charade khyber solds for 3 lakh or so which is zillion times repaired remade

[haaziq]

We need to add some Kia Official here so that he knows about the concerns of Masses & start trying to address them ASAP.

[mehran]

I am guessing that car assemblers in Pakistan have very less contact/feedback from the public as previously all their vehicles were selling like hotcakes. Now since the economy is down and customers are getting lesser, I hope they are starting to listen to what the public wants and how they can cater for it.

[aliaamir0335]

you are living in third class country we have no right to expect good

[ahmed_11]

dollar is depriciated

[NASRUM]

Spelling mistakes appreciated ofcourse

[haaziq]

Any one with figures of Picanto bookings ?

[saqibhassan95]

What to do with bookings...
PAMA k figures dekh lena in future

[umarmuslim]

I wont advise anyone to buy any Kia model before the 2020 Model Year starts.

1. You will have sufficient feedback from owners.

2. You can buy slightly used 2019 for a lesser prices or 2020 models for the same price hopefully.

wassalaam

[Fayaz02]

You will have sufficient feedback from owners.

When there would be no buyer/ owner than who will give sufficient feedback.

[saqib576]

Waise when will we be ever come out of this way of thinking. Gari NOV/DEC mein na loo....agar le bhi lo to aglay saal tak registration na kurwana.....LOL