KARACHI: Some Chinese bike assemblers have pushed up prices of two-wheelers and auto rickshaw, following persistent rupee devaluation against the dollar and soaring prices of raw materials.

Road Prince motorcycle and rickshaw has raised the rate of 150cc rickshaw by Rs 4,000 from July 23.

United Auto Industries has also decided to increase prices by Rs1,000 of 70cc bikes and Rs3,000 on 125cc while Sara Automobile Industries has pushed up rates of 70cc by Rs1,000 from Aug 1.

Association of Pakistan Motorcycle Assemblers Chairman Mohammad Sabir Shaikh said two-wheeler prices would remain under pressure in case the rupee continues to lose its strength against the greenback.

He said the decision to impose a 100 per cent cash margin on import of bike parts and components would also affect the costing of the local industry.

Sabir continued that the bike sales would remain strong due to lack of effective public and private transport system. “Whether petrol price goes up or down, bike sales will remain brisk,” he added.

Imports of completely and semi-knocked down kits (CKD/SKD) continued to go up despite achieving over 92pc localisation in two-wheelers.

As per figures of Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, import of CKD/SKD for two-wheelers went up to $106 million in FY18, higher by 15.5pc, from $92m in FY17.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2018