KARACHI: Auto industry continued witnessing plant shutdowns in the caretaker setup as Indus Motor Company (IMC) has also announced to suspend production activities for two weeks (Aug 25-Sept 6) due to unfavourable economic conditions.

In a stock filing on Thursday, the company said the demand for automobiles has continuously declined due to the challenging economic environment, low consumer purchasing power and increase in duties and taxes by the federal government. The decision to close the plant was taken by considering the low demand and inventory levels.

IMC’s production activities also remained shut from July 21 to Aug 3. The company sold 1,368 units of cars and LCVs during July versus 2,375 in July 2022.

Under the caretaker government, Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd (PSMCL) was the first to announce the closure of its two-wheeler plant from Aug 18-31 due to a shortage of parts and accessories.

Car production activities may improve during the ongoing month after a whopping $70.6 million import of completely knocked down (CKD) kits during July from $40m in June and $67m in July 2022.

Sherman Research said relaxation in imports has swelled the July CKD import bill which is the highest imports recorded by local car manufacturing units in the last eight months.

Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manu­facturers (Paapam) and the Iranian Auto Parts Manufacturers Assoc­iation (IAPMA) have announced the plan to exchange technologies and barter the parts and raw materials.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2023