All Pakistan Motors Dealer Association (APMDA) Chairman Haji Mohammad Shehzad said Saturday that the abolition of regulatory duty would significantly bring down the prices of imported 1,800cc vehicles.
He appreciated the government’s decision to remove the regulatory duty. He expressed the hope that if the decision were implemented soon, vehicle prices would be significantly reduced in the upcoming months despite a possible increase in the dollar rate.
“The imposition of regulatory duty last year had made vehicles more expensive, which hurt sales and purchases,” he said while talking to a private news channel.
Shehzad said that due to the increase in the prices of cars, people had stopped buying them, which caused the industry to lose billions of dollars.
For instance, he said that Honda Atlas Cars Limited, which used to sell 50,000 vehicles a year, could only sell 10,000 vehicles in 2023.
The APMDA chairman suggested that if Pakistan manufactured vehicles instead of importing them, not only would prices come under control, but the government could also collect revenue of around $1-1.5 billion annually.
He further said that according to an MoU signed in the 1980s, Pakistan was supposed to bring transport technology within five years and manufacture vehicles. Still, unfortunately, it could not be implemented to date.
He also suggested that if a restriction on the import of used vehicles older than three years were changed to five or seven years, it would positively impact the automotive industry.
Data shared by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association showed that in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, 85,776 units were sold, down 50% against 172,612 units sold during the same period in FY22.
Meanwhile, car companies in Pakistan have sharply increased prices in recent months, citing the rupee’s depreciation, among other factors.
The government restricted imports by imposing heavy regulatory duties to control the outflow of dollars as the country faced a crisis in foreign exchange reserves. (APP)
