Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF) President Mian Zahid Hussain has said the government’s Auto Policy has started bearing fruit as two foreign auto makers have decided to invest in Pakistan automotive sector.
In a statement here on Friday, Mian Zahid Hussain said that the new entrants would promote competition and three existing Japanese automakers would have to provide fuel efficient, comfortable and secure cars to the consumers at relatively low price, he said.
He said that French automaker Renault which was in business since 1899 has decided to start producing cars as early as 2018 in Pakistan while Nissan would follow the suit which would also benefit the masses.
The PBIF President said that existing players continued to earn handsome profit but reluctant to introduce models with efficiency, safety and with latest features resulting in high fuel consumption and other losses, he noted.
He said that masses were fed up of the cars with outdated technology and they want better products for their money which was only possible if new players stepped into Pakistan’s lucrative market.
Local players were producing over quarter of a million cars per annum but not ready to make compatible cars which was disturbing but now they would have to invest in up gradation, he observed.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that country imported around 32000 cars during 2014-15 while imports jumped to over 53000 in 2015-16 which proved demand for better cars made elsewhere as local automakers continue to sell low quality cars at higher prices.