According to Syed Asif Ahmed, general manager of MG Motors Pakistan, the company has a five-year plan that calls for the introduction of three completely knocked-down (CKD) automobile models, including the HS model, in Pakistan.
According to Ahmed’s comments to the Business Recorder, Pakistan is a “highly CKD-oriented market.”
As opposed to completely built units (CBUs), which need to be imported, CKD vehicles are put together locally.
“The Engineering Development Board and I are actively collaborating. Plant equipment has arrived in Pakistan despite global logistical challenges, particularly in China following Covid-19 closure and limitations. The general manager told Business Recorder, “We are working day and night to get it operational in the current fiscal year.
General Manager of MG Motors Pakistan Syed Asif Ahmed said Pakistan was a “very CKD-oriented market”https://t.co/oY1dKx4Kf4
— Dawn.com (@dawn_com) August 12, 2022
He did not, however, specify the other two CKD models that the company would introduce.
“We want to provide multiple options and features in our vehicles to Pakistan customers,” he added.
The safety features in locally assembled cars, according to Ahmed, are “considerably weak,” and MG Motors Pakistan will adhere to global standards for its CKD models without any “extra charges.”
According to him, MG is “not in the race to become the biggest player” in Pakistan. “As in the rest of the world, each brand should have a 10% to 15% market share to ensure healthy competition.”
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The general manager also urged Pakistan to use its geographical location to gain access to automobile markets in Central Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East.
“We are not a particularly appealing local market for global automakers, but we can certainly become a vehicle-exporting nation,” he says.
Ahmed stated that the automobile industry should stop looking to the government for handouts, adding that the industry was “already overprotected.”
“The only long-term solution to the auto industry’s recurring crises is the export of made-in-Pakistan vehicles,” he said.
Ahmed stated that he would only ask the government to incentivize electric vehicles because it was a new avenue with a multiplier effect.