For long Pak Rupee was hovering around Rs 100 against the US Dollar in open market. However since December 2017, the decline started which over the period of 18 months plunged at Rs 164 against a single Dollar.
Related: Rupee Continues to Recover Against Dollar- Will Car Prices Come Down?
Because of this car prices were increased in regular intervals with automakers never missing a chance to revise the rates even in the slightest of fluctuations. Since June 2019 however, the Rupee started to regain some of its strength back and in fact having recovered by 6% stands at Rs 154 against a Dollar today. Now instead of reducing prices, the local automakers pushed the car prices up even further which was largely attributed towards dampening their declining profit margins.
Piled up unsold stocks of local assembled cars
Car sales in Pakistan continued to show dismal performance during the first 7 months of fiscal year 2019-20 with a 44% year-on-year decline. Despite such woeful sales, price cuts are still not considered by the local assemblers however they have demanded the government to provide tax reliefs.
Related: Auto Parts Vendors Criticize Assemblers for Low Localization & Higher Prices
Below is comparison of prices of some of the local assembled cars which will give you an idea of how much the prices have gone up within the last 2 years. The % difference in increase is also mentioned in the table.
| Car | Dec 2017 | Jan 2020 | Price Difference % |
| FAW V2 | 1,069,000 | 1,574,000 | 47.24% |
| FAW X-PV Dual A/C | 919,000 | 1,269,000 | 38.08% |
| FAW X-PV Standard | 869,000 | 1,209,000 | 39.12% |
| Honda City 1.3 M/T | 1,549,000 | 2,329,000 | 50.35% |
| Honda City 1.3 P/T | 1,689,000 | 2,509,000 | 48.54% |
| Honda City 1.5 M/T | 1,599,000 | 2,389,000 | 49.40% |
| Honda City 1.5 P/T | 1,739,000 | 2,559,000 | 47.15% |
| Honda City 1.5 Aspire M/T | 1,729,000 | 2,559,000 | 48.00% |
| Honda City 1.5 Aspire P/T | 1,869,000 | 2,719,000 | 45.47% |
| Honda Civic 1.8 CVT | 2,349,000 | 3,549,000 | 51.08% |
| Honda Civic 1.8 CVT Oriel | 2,499,000 | 3,779,000 | 51.22% |
| Honda BR-V CVT | 2,229,000 | 3,149,000 | 41.27% |
| Honda BR-V CVT-S | 2,329,000 | 3,299,000 | 41.64% |
| Toyota Corolla 1.3 XLi | 1,759,000 | 2,519,000 | 43.20% |
| Toyota Corolla 1.3 GLi M/T | 1,889,000 | 2,769,000 | 46.58% |
| Toyota Corolla 1.3 GLi A/T | 1,964,000 | 2,869,000 | 46.07% |
| Toyota Corolla 1.6 Altis | 2,149,000 | 3,149,000 | 46.53% |
| Toyota Corolla 1.8 Altis M/T | 2,224,000 | 3,299,000 | 48.33% |
| Toyota Corolla 1.8 Altis CVT | 2,349,000 | 3,449,000 | 46.82% |
| Toyota Corolla 1.8 Altis Grande M/T | 2,399,000 | 3,499,000 | 45.85% |
| Toyota Corolla 1.8 Altis Grande CVT | 2,549,000 | 3,699,000 | 45.11% |
| Toyota Fortuner 2.7 Petrol | 5,399,000 | 7,999,000 | 48.15% |
| Toyota Fortuner 2.8 Diesel | 5,899,000 | 8,649,000 | 46.61% |
| Toyota Hilux Revo 2.8 V | 4,649,000 | 6,249,000 | 34.41% |
| Toyota Hilux Revo 2.8 G M/T | 4,124,000 | 5,599,000 | 35.76% |
| Toyota Hilux Revo 2.8 G A/T | 4,349,000 | 5,899,000 | 35.64% |
| Suzuki Ravi | 672,000 | 999,000 | 48.66% |
| Suzuki Bolan | 754,000 | 1,099,000 | 45.75% |
| Suzuki WagonR VXR | 1,054,000 | 1,605,000 | 52.27% |
| Suzuki WagonR VXL | 1,094,000 | 1,695,000 | 54.93% |
| Suzuki Cultus VXR | 1,250,000 | 1,745,000 | 39.60% |
| Suzuki Cultus VXL | 1,391,000 | 1,865,000 | 34.07% |
| Suzuki Cultus VXL AGS | 1,528,000 | 1,985,000 | 29.90% |
| Suzuki Swift DLX M/T | 1,327,000 | 1,995,000 | 50.33% |
| Suzuki Swift DLX A/T | 1,463,000 | 2,140,000 | 46.27% |
E&OE.
Auto industry had forecasted to increase its sales to 0.3 million by 2021 and half a million units by 2022; however from the looks of it, the sector is far from achieving this goal. What is your opinion regarding the inflating car prices in Pakistan, let us know with your feedback.
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
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