KARACHI: Indus Motor Company (IMC) has launched the Toyota Yaris facelift model with a price increase of Rs144,000 to Rs606,000.

In mid-March, IMC cut the prices of various Yaris models by Rs73,000-133,000 to keep them below Rs4 million, excluding general sales tax.

According to the indicative price list issued by the IMC to its authorised dealers, the new prices for the Toyota Yaris GLi M/T 1.3, CVT 1.3, ATIV M/T 1.3 and ATIV CVT 1.3 are Rs4.479 million, Rs4.760m, Rs4.730m and Rs5.604m, as compared to Rs4.326m, Rs4.616m, Rs4.586m and Rs4.766m, respectively.

The ATIV X CVT 1.5 with beige interior is now available at Rs 6.255m, up from Rs5.649m.

Yaris booking is being done with a partial payment of Rs1.5m on order intake starting from May 24. A dealer said the company has jacked up the prices for a facelift of headlights and bumpers.

Amid lethargic auto sales during the 10M FY24, a silver lining emerged after the State Bank of Pakistan relaxed import curbs, thus boosting the arrival of completely knocked-down kits (CKD).

According to Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) data, the import of CKDs rose to $72m in April from $60m in March, $50m in February, and $37m in January, suggesting an improvement in the advance booking of hot-selling vehicles.

Auto part expert Mashood Ali Khan said that the rising trend in the import of CKD kits signals improvement in sales, especially from July onwards, depending on the pro-auto industry measures to be announced in the FY25 budget.

“The industry will bounce back in FY25 in case the government accepts assemblers’ demand for putting curbs on the import of used cars and give a free space to the local industry to roll out their products,” he said, adding that lack of any relief measures will keep the assemblers and vendors struggling in the next year as well.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2024