Pakistan’s Automobile industry contributes about 2.8% to its GDP and 30 billion rupees to the national exchequer in terms of taxes and duties. The country has an alluring market for the auto sector and the new policy, Automotive Industry Development and Export Plan 2021-26 aspires to give incentives through a reduction in duties and taxes.
Pakistan’s automobile market is emerging and therefore, foreign automobile brands are entering the Pakistani market to capitalise on the available opportunities. Peugeot, a European car company, plans to kick start manufacturing cars in the country in partnership with Lucky Motor Corporation.
Lucky Motor Corporation, the Pakistani automobile manufacturer, revealed that the first step of the partnership will begin with the introduction of the locally-built Peugeot 2008. Lucky Motor Corporation Chief Executive Officer Asif Rizvi stated that for the first time in history a European car would be available to the consumers of Pakistan. Lucky Motor Corporation came into existence as a result of the government’s new entrant policy under the Auto Industrial Development Policy (AIDP) 2016-21.
He termed the policy successful as it offered concessions to new brands and products and created a level playing field between existing and new market players. He pointed out that due to this progressive initiative 12 new car manufacturers have entered to Pakistani market, lifting the total number of vehicle makers to 15 which has produced 25 new vehicles.
He revealed that the company had also ventured into auto part manufacturing in partnership with other vehicle manufacturers and established a manufacturing facility to produce seats, wire harness, air conditioners, and injection molding parts for the automobile plant.
The company has also entered into eight technical assistance agreements with four Korean auto part suppliers for the transfer of technology in Pakistan, he added. At present, all cars assembled in the country come from Japanese, Korean or Chinese assemblers. The consumers’ choice “is limited to cars designed from the Far East”, he said.
Kia Motors – Movement That Inspires
Lucky Motor Corporation is a Pakistani automobile manufacturer which is a part subsidiary of South Korean automobile manufacturer Kia Motors. It is a joint venture between Lucky Group and Kia Motors.
As of today, it has 4 Business divisions namely Automotive, Auto-Parts Manufacturing, Electronics, and Shared Services. The automotive division is responsible for assembling and distributing KIA and Peugeot vehicles in Pakistan. The Auto-parts manufacturing business is responsible for assembling and manufacturing automotive parts for their vehicles while the Electronics division is responsible for assembling Samsung cell phones in Pakistan.
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