KARACHI: Al Haj FAW Motors launched on Saturday a locally assembled 1,300cc FAW V2 hatchback, the first Chinese passenger car.

By the end of 2017, the company expects to produce 500 V2 units per month with plans to export right-hand drive cars to China and other international markets eventually.

The company aims to increase its production to 15,000 units per annum by 2020 as well as introduce new models.

The company has been importing the V2 hatchback as completely built units since 2014.

Locally assembled V2 will likely be more affordable than the imported version. The price of the car is Rs1,069,000.

V2’s current in-city average is about 15-16 kilometres a litre. Its average on the highway is 18km a litre.

An official said Rs2.5bn has already been invested in setting up the company.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2017