All Pakistan Motors Dealers Association (APMDA) Chairman Haji Muhammad Shehzad said on Saturday that the removal of regulatory duty will significantly reduce the prices of imported 1,800cc vehicles.
He appreciated the government’s decision to abolish regulatory duty and expressed the hope that if this decision is implemented soon, the prices of vehicles will come down significantly in the coming months despite the possible increase in the value of the dollar. will
“Vehicles became more expensive last year due to the imposition of regulatory duty, which adversely affected sales and purchases,” he said while talking to a private news channel.
Shahzad said that due to the increase in the prices of cars, people had stopped buying them, due to which the industry lost billions of dollars.
For example, Honda Atlas Cars Limited, which used to sell 50,000 vehicles a year, could sell only 10,000 vehicles in 2023.
The APMDA chairman suggested that if Pakistan manufactures vehicles instead of importing them, not only will prices come under control, but the government can also collect $1 to $1.5 billion in revenue annually.
He further said that according to an MoU agreed in the 1980s, Pakistan was supposed to bring transport technology and manufacture its own vehicles within five years, but unfortunately it could not be implemented till date.
He also suggested that if the ban on import of used vehicles older than three years is changed to five or seven years, it will have a positive impact on the automotive industry.
Data shared by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association showed that a total of 85,776 units were sold in the first nine months of the current fiscal, as against 172,612 units sold during the same period in FY22. 50% less than the competition.
Meanwhile, car companies in Pakistan have raised prices sharply in recent months, citing the depreciation of the rupee among other factors.
The government had restricted imports, imposing heavy regulatory duties, in an attempt to control the outflow of dollars as the country faced a crisis of foreign exchange reserves.
