The year 2018 is nearing its end. It will probably be remember as the year of price hikes. Due to the constantly falling Rupee value against the US Dollar, car prices in Pakistan were revised almost 5 times with automakers revising their product prices up to Rs 250,000 on each model.
Apart from car prices, a lot of development took place as the Auto Policy 2016-21 continued to cast its affect on the industry. We take a month-wise recap of what happened in year 2018 both in terms of domestic as well as international perspective.
January
Toyota C-HR became the best selling crossover SUV in Japan. Only launched towards the end of 2016, the funky looking crossover sold more than 117,299 units in its very first year becoming Japan’s most favorite vehicle in the segment.
The 10th generation 2018 Honda Accord won the North American Car of the Year Award. This was also the third win in a row for Honda with Civic taking the Car of the Year award in 2016 and the Ridgeline winning Truck of the Year award in 2017.
In January, Honda Atlas posted record annual sales for the year 2017. The company has achieved an all-time sales record since its establishment in 1994. HACPL managed to sell 47,424 units in 2017 with an increase of 49% from 31,780 units in 2016.
Founder and Chairman of Geely Holdings of China bought a 9.7% stake in Daimler AG, the makers of Mercedes cars, becoming its largest single shareholder.
One of the major happenings during the year 2018 was that the tests conducted by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) confirmed that petrol in Pakistan is harmful for engines, environment & health due to the excessive presence of chemicals in petrol. In November 2017, Honda Atlas had filed a complaint to OGRA accusing fuel suppliers including local units of Shell, Total as well as Pakistan State Oil (PSO) that their additives appeared to be damaging engines in its vehicles.
Ghandhara Nissan Limited (GNL) was awarded the ‘Brownfield Investment Status’ by the government for revival of their assembly plant in Pakistan. Ghandhara along with Nissan also hosted a press conference in Karachi to officially announce its entry in Pakistan.
Toyota and Suzuki made their first announcement regarding to cross badge their vehicles in India. As per the agreement, Suzuki will supply the Baleno and Vitara models to Toyota, while Toyota will supply the Corolla model to Suzuki.
A computer animation professional with over 23 years of industry experience having served in leading organizations, TV channels & production facilities in Pakistan. An avid car enthusiast and petrolhead with an affection to deliver quality content to help shape opinions. Formerly written for PakWheels as well as major publications including Dawn. Founder of CarSpiritPK.com
