[Rajeevraj]

After the analysis on the US Car Sales (which is described and discussed in this thread along with some other developed markets) the folks at Management Punditz have come out with an analysis of the automotive industry in Pakistan (Detailed Article Link). Sharing a summary here.

Key Points

• A lot of similarity with how the journey started. Suzuki signed a JV with the Pakistan Government in 1982 (Same as what they did in India with Maruti which was owned by the Government of India.
• Honda entered Pakistan through a JV in 1993. 2 years before India which happened in 1995 (as per this source)
• Toyota entered Pakistan in 1990 as Indus Motors. India entry was in 1997 with Kirloskar.
• The similarities end here. Over the past 10-15 years, the Indian market has caught the fancy of all the manufacturers while the Pakistan market is struggling with out dated products generations behind what the companies currently offer.
• Pakistan has a huge potential if government policies are favorable. It is world's 6 most populous country in the world (India stands second in this ranking and is almost 7 times the population of Pakistan).
• Pakistan's car sales is 1/20th that of India. Pakistan's monthly car sales currently stand at an average of 15000 units. Although the numbers are modest, the key fact is that this grew over 54% compared to last year.
• Reminder: India monthly sales is ~220,000 units. That is 15 times the Pakistan Sales. India's population is ~7 times that of Pakistan.

Top 10 Cars

Manufacturer Level Sales

• As the charts show, the Pakistan market is carved among 3 players-Suzuki, Honda and Toyota. There are no major local manufacturers.
• Interestingly the Corolla is Pakistan's largest selling car with a monthly sale of 5000+ units.
• Hyundai seems to have no presence in Paksitan. Quite surprising considering that they are huge in India.

A look at the top selling cars. (1 PKR= 0.63INR)

Toyota Corolla: Sold as 3 brands/variants

• Corolla GLI 1.3 (63BHP/121NM/5 Speed Manual:4 Speed AT)PKR 16.25-18.25L
• Corolla Altis (90HP/154NM, 4 Speed AT, PKR 19.25L
• Corolla Altis Grande(103HP,173NM, 5 Speed Manual:CVT) PKR 20-23L.
• Only the top end Altis Grande gets one driver Airbag. No other variants get airbags. ABS is available.
• A high end vehicle. To compare, the entry level hatch costs around 600K. But feature list is poor.

Suzuki Bolan

• Pretty much the Omni Sold here
• Like the Omni, bare bones utility vehicle.
• 800cc,37HP/62NM
• Costs PKR 695,000 Onwards

Suzuki Mehran

• The discontinued Maruti 800 sold here
• 800cc, 30HP/59NM/4 Speed Manual.
• Costs PKR 625,000 Onwards.

While the US and Europe models offered and Sales numbers made us go green with envy, this look at the other end of the spectrum is a reminder of how our car market has progressed and is continuing to progress over the last 15 years.

Sources:

• Main Article: Management Punditz
• Toyota Pakistan Official Site
• Suzuki Pakistan Official Site

[avdhesh15]

Quite an eye-opener to see what's being sold right next door. Now actually I feel quite happy with the cars sold in our market!

[saket77]

Good information there. Thanks for the unusual thread. In fact, I am wondering how come Corolla clocks the highest number of sales in an economy like Pakistan. I have no idea but may be the taxi business (and hence, segment) is a huge thing there.

Regards,
Saket.

[JoyPangli]

So, from your number it looks like the average cars owned per 1000 population is twice in India compared to Pakistan. Lower sales in Pakistan could be because of following factors:

1. Due to lack of competition, the prices are quite high in Pakistan even after taking into account Pakistani/Indian rupee exchange rate.

2. The interest rates are higher than India, so EMI s are higher.

3. The average income per capita is marginally lower than India.

In terms of number of automobile manufacturers, I think they have a long way to go.

[RJ411]

Interesting piece of information and thanks to Rajeevraj for sharing this. I have seen a lot Toyota pickup trucks shown in news channels when ever they show Pakistan. But not able to see them featuring in this list.

@Mods I believe this should be moved into International Automotive section

[tushky]

Check out suzukis offerings in pakistan. Previous generation swift is their coolest offering ever, they still sell cultus (esteem hatchback) which looks like a car from 90s. We are way too ahead of them.

[hybridpetrol]

The policies of governments keep the businesses from flourishing. While I do not wish to comment about the growth of Pakistan as it is up to them, I can surely wish a few things to be implemented.
As a person who wants to drive, I want the ownership cost to decrease. Innovative schemes to be introduced to encourage more people to own cars. And beautiful roads for the cars and high income levels for the citizens.
Our policies now only will determine In future whether our car market will be like the USA selling futuristic cars or like Pak selling decades old cars without choices.

[batterylow]

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

The policies of governments keep the businesses from flourishing. While I do not wish to comment about the growth of Pakistan as it is up to them, I can surely wish a few things to be implemented.
As a person who wants to drive, I want the ownership cost to decrease. Innovative schemes to be introduced to encourage more people to own cars. And beautiful roads for the cars and high income levels for the citizens.
Our policies now only will determine In future whether our car market will be like the USA selling futuristic cars or like Pak selling decades old cars without choices.

“A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars, it’s where the rich use public transportation” The Mayor of Bogota, Enrique Penalosa.

While in principle I agree with you being a fellow motor-head, the idea that car ownership will increase further in this country is downright scary. The country's infrastructure cannot support even the present level of car ownership. Improved public transport is the way to go ahead.

[asingh1977]

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[deepfusion]

Thanks Rajeevraj for the update. But what we watch on TV, either in news or in serials, there are other cars and other models of the three companies driving on the roads in Pakistan. Could it be that imports dominate Pakistan's roads while the manufacturers, despite having set up business there, are ramping up their production if the Government there would have changed some policies?

[GTO]

Incredibly interesting read. Thanks for sharing, Rajeevraj! I don't think we can compare our cars & sales to theirs as India is a far bigger economy.

Sure is a Japanese dominated market there. VW is said to be interested in entering Pakistan, but I think the emissions scandal might delay plans.

Very surprised to see the Corolla on top of the charts! 4,500 units a month is impressive. The Omni's sales received a shot in the arm from a recently launched taxi scheme.

Like in India, imports with big engines attract stiff duties. Still, you can see some sweet rides on PakWheels.com. I visit the site once a while to see what's happening at our neighbour.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Pakistan has a huge potential if government policies are favorable. It is world's 6 most populous country in the world

As things stand, I think that motorcycle manufacturers will have more potential than car manufacturers in Pakistan.

Originally Posted by RJ411

I have seen a lot Toyota pickup trucks shown in news channels when ever they show Pakistan. But not able to see them featuring in this list.

All those pickups are hand-me-downs from more developed markets. Hardly any of them are sold new. Rather, they are exported as used cars from bigger markets (easier to sell abroad than to scrap).

[avisidhu]

Very interesting thread. Thanks for sharing.

Some fellow members here would be surprised to know that up until 1980, Pakistan was in relatively better shape in pretty much every aspect of the economy, and had higher per capita income than India. Many Pakistanis of that generation used to look down upon India as a poor resource starved nation. Of course India pressed the gas pedal in the 90s and has now left our neighbor far behind.

One anomaly has never been clear to me though: the corolla seems to do well almost every where except India!

[NiInJa]

Thanks for sharing, I was in Dubai last year when I happened to meet/work with some Pakistani colleagues. The one thing they all agreed unanimously was that the divide between poor/middle class and the richer class is very high. That might explain why smaller cars sell less and why the Corolla is the best seller. Interesting read, gives a picture of Pakistan's industrial progress

[digitalSpeed]

Going by the link in this thread there are some interesting facts about Pakistan:

* looks like BMW, Audi and Merc are available only in petrol
* Kizashi is still available there

[boohooper]

Originally Posted by avdhesh15

Quite an eye-opener to see what's being sold right next door. Now actually I feel quite happy with the cars sold in our market!

Somehow I do not Agree with you. We have evolved as Car buyers and have become a discerning lot. We know that manufacturers can give us more but get away with giving us less. It takes a lot of arm twisting to get the basic form some dealers. Some Dealers are the other wolves in the pack that are out to rip us of our flesh and blood. Its not just the better looking models it is also better quality of service that we deserve.

We did not call the manufacturers here, they have come here to profit from our wants. They ought to remember that and give us better. Much MUCH BETTER!