Adam Cars in Pakistan

It should be the fifth Pakistani vehicle ever built actually but we weren't able to catch up with Mr. Chairman of House of Habib who knew about the other Pakistani vehicle which was actually, a 4x4 pick up truck. I don't know if he was talking about one we've mentioned below but he is a proper automotive enthusiast; who revealed the information about that effort in very light detail while speaking at an event. However, we've often heard and said that Revo was the first ever car designed and assembled in Pakistan using Chinese parts but before Revo, and in fact any of the vehicles, and to the best of our knowledge, three siblings made their own convertible car as a mode of transport to IBA, Karachi and back home. Revo was not the first Pakistani car. Hamid Omar designed and hand-built Pakistan's first ever car in 1967 using left over angle iron from a electric transmission tower. The car had better speed than the yellow rickshaws you see today, with a 200cc rope start pump engine, it had a cruising speed of 40 MPH with Lambretta scooter tyres converting that power into velocity, and you'll be amazed to know that the car was in use for more than 10 years. Hamid Omar told the story of registering the car to Off Road Pakistan (and we highly recommend you to check out the entire story of the car): When I went to get this car registered, they wanted the Bill of Lading, the import documentations like the B/L (bill of lading), country, manufacturer. Since the car was made here, none of these papers were there, and they said that it is no car can be registered without these documents. There was no precedent – so at that time after lots of trips to various govt. offices, Lahore’s DIG Traffic finally agreed to inspect the car. He took a test drive around the block, and then gave the order to have it registered. I used the car for two years in Lahore and then three years in Karachi. Then Ahmad Omar used it for 3 years, then Taimur Mumtaz used it for a further two years. Haroon Industries was a joint-venture with Skoda called SkoPak, where we produced /assembled pick ups just like we build the current lot of vehicles but back then, we were fast paced. We had a positive outlook of the future and after being founded in just 1968, and moving into the early 70s, Pakistani engineers had already designed and built a body using the chassis of Skoda Octavia Combi. That project too fell victim to politics and the economic destruction during 1971, and could never move on but we can only imagine what SkoPak would've been today if they had been able to continue. There was also the Naya Daur Motors who assembled Ford Willy's Jeep but I believe it was just assembly unlike the two vehicles mentioned above which were designed and built by Pakistanis and not just assembled. The third was the brainchild of a Lahore based roadside mechanic, a true entrepreneur, late Khalil-ur-Rahman who, in the early 80s saw the gaps in the market and introduced a small pick up truck by the name of Proficient. Our research into the said product indicated that it was available for just One lac rupees until Government delivered a fatal blow by giving Pak Suzuki concession on importing CBU (Completely Built Units) of the Carry now known as 'Ravi'. Ravi was the same capacity as the one designed and built by Proficient but this multinational competition was too much for the small start-up however, there were those who tried to help in keeping the Pakistani pick up afloat and thus, Mr. Khalil moved his garage into Islamabad but wasn't able to fight the competition when Government were busy providing incentives to foreign companies and totally devastated the local companies. Though internet reports suggests that the children of the automotive entrepreneur, late Khalil-ur-Rahman are working on different projects to realize their father's dream and if they somehow read this, then we urge to contact PakWheels. And then we have the Adam Revo. Making it the fourth car made by Pakistanis but we believe Revo was as close as we could ever come to actually producing our best bet. Omar Jibran Engineering was the parent company of Adam Motors Company, a project by another Pakistani entrepreneur, Feroz Khan, the company designed and built the car and it met its goal which was "To be cheaper than Suzuki Mehran", and it did just that by being 46,000 rupees cheaper than Mehran at a price of 269,000 and Khan believes that after adjusting for rupee depreciation and inflation, Revo would today be around 600,000 rupees against Mehran’s 686,000 rupees but Feroz Khan learned some precious lessons. Never trust a politician. Short-cut Aziz had promised that Government will buy the Revo instead of Mehran for Government employees and the resolution of Kashmir issue was more likely than this happening. Anyways, with failed promises and pressure by the big three automakers of Pakistan who Adam challenged, eventually, led to the closure of the company after a year of operation. But the promising thing was that Revo had good demand by individual buyers like you and me which brought in interest from foreign investors as well but Feroz Khan decided to shut shop. The project was never acknowledged by the Pakistani politicians, even Nawaz Sharif at a recent event of PAPS (Pakistan Auto Parts Show) lamented on his dream of a Pakistani car and it is a pity that he was unbeknownst to all these four vehicles which Pakistanis put their everything into. Even the people at the ceremony kept quiet sheepishly rather to correct Mr. Prime Minister. If you think Revo was a bad start to establish some Design and R&D base in Pakistan, just Google China's First car or Japan's first car. Given how Pakistani start-up world is shaping up, I can safely say that Revo wasn't our last hurrah! Picture abhi baaki hay... (probably)

We all know what went wrong with Adam Revo, it was a simple case of political corruption which the then government of Shaukat Aziz who promised to buy Revo as government vehicles instead of Mehran but didn't, however, the simple gentleman, Feroz Khan did produce in such numbers to cater the demand of government orders for when they came but they didn't, debt turned up in huge numbers (which now has almost been paid off) and the company eventually had to shut down. During the recent PAPS Exhbition at Lahore Expo Center, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed his interest and ambition to have a 'Made in Pakistan' car, but little did he know that Pakistan had already accomplished that in 2005 without government support. What was even more sad was that none of the attendees stood up to tell the PM that Pakistan had already accomplished that, the creator of Adam Motors and Revo, Feroz Khan sat in the crowd and expressed how hurt and disappointed he was when no one told the PM that we already made a 'made in Pakistan' car. Talking to Express Tribune, we quote directly from ET: “I felt hurt when none of my life-long friends stood up and informed the prime minister that Pakistan had already succeeded in producing a local car in 2005,” Khan told The Express Tribune in an interview. “Add to this the maker of that car was sitting right before him in the audience.” But after just selling 600 cars from a plant which had a capacity of about 10,000 units per year, Adam had to shut down as debt piled and working capital disappeared. Now though, during the interview with ET, Feroz Khan said that they could start producing the Revo within 15 months after studying the current needs of the market. He further said that although he is fearful of re-launching Revo due to the country's politics however, he said that this is a better time to produce a local car as prices are way too high due to expensive imported parts. Revo was cheaper from Mehran by 46,000 rupees at a price of 269,000 and Khan believes that after adjusting for rupee depreciation and inflation, Revo would today be around 600,000 rupees against Mehran's 686,000 rupees. You can read the full story here because we want to comment on Revo, the car itself. If you pick up the first car any country made, China and India will be the best examples as their industry's initiation isn't that long ago but everyone's first attempt was ridiculous. It had flaws, even today, China is doing reverse engineering to strengthen its automotive industry and still their products aren't well received and given Pakistan's industry's standing, we can do it as well if we focus on design, research and development. Revo was a spacious car but its tail light came from the first three-wheeler Van China ever made and it was horrible. But taking off-the-shelf parts is a neat idea. You don't need to focus your R&D budget on things such as head and tail lights, American Local Motors is a classic example of such a company. If Adam plans to come back and they do eventually come back then they need to hire some good automotive designers before engineers to design a cheap hatchback with parts that are cheaply available. Those automotive designer must be allowed to be free, wild and passionate with whatever they design but the car has to be cheaper than Mehran and they will accomplish a car people will find beautiful to behold as engineers figure how to put the damn thing together.

Government will support manufacturing of a low-cost, energy-efficient, spacious and indigenous car which will cost almost three-fourths of other cars in Pakistan with same specifications. Engineering Development Board (EDB) should facilitate and support industry in manufacturing a hundred per cent indigenous car which can be termed as a truly national car and which should become a symbol of quality in the world of auto engineering, said Federal Secretary Industries Aziz Ahmad Bilour. Adding that automotive industry in Pakistan has seen a rise when compared with other industries however it needs to focus on localisation because despite the high production volumes, transfer of technology and localisation isn't practiced. Morover, Bilour persuaded local industrialist to bring innovation, out-of-box ideas and knowledge-based activities in manufacturing to boost demand for Pakistani products in international market. Proposal for conversion of existing car models into bullet-proof cars was also discussed. The meeting was informed that by using latest technology, locally assembled cars can be converted into bullet-proof cars without adding unnecessary weight and disturbing efficiency of the car. The ministry of industries said that Pakistan launched its first car in 1953 through National Motors Limited which assembled the BedFord trucks and than the industry rised through making trucks, tractors and cars however, only one truly local attempt was made in the entire history of Pakistan which was the Adam Revo but due to the false promises of the than government - Adam Revo produced more than what it actually sold giving high losses and eventually shutting down as government pulled out all its pledged support from the local automaker but today, government has again focused on developing a truly national car.