KARACHI: Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd (PSMCL) unveiled its locally assembled Alto 660cc at a three-day Pakistan Auto Parts Show (PAPS) 2019, which started from Friday at the Karachi Expo Centre.

With no detail of the actual price of Alto VX (without AC), VXR (with AC) and VXL AGS (with AC and automatic transmission), the company, however, started vehicle’s booking at authorised showrooms with advance payment of Rs500,000 and delivery period of two months.

Alto’s starting localisation level stands at 57 per cent which would be gradually increased in coming years with soaring production and sales volume. “Production of the 660cc car has already started from April 8,” he said A number of consumers had already been using imported Alto 660cc and now the same model is being assembled in Pakistan.

Kia Lucky Motors CEO Asif Rizvi revealed at the PAPS 2019 that the company is gearing up to start booking of vehicles in June and launch its SUV KIA Sportage by August and 1,000cc Picanto by October.

He said KLM stands fully committed to localization even if the pace may be a little slower due to low volume at the start and simultaneous launch of multiple products not attempted previously.

Rizvi urged the Engineering Development Board (EDB) to now link the very successful tariff-based localisation regime to volume, so that high technology products having low volume can be introduced viably.

Today 30-38pc of the value of a car assembled in Pakistan is collected by the government in the shape of various levies and in order to realise auto industry’s potential, the country needs to take some measures, he said.

“While I cannot advocate lowering of duties on CKD kits only as this will have detrimental effects on the viability of localised parts, it can be advocated to reduce CKD duty and an equivalent reduction of duty on components that go into manufacture of local parts,” Rizvi said, adding that the safest reduction of levies would be in the form of reducing sales tax and federal excise duty.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2019