Yes local industry should be protected but they should produce quality vehicles. The reason imported second hand cars are being sold at same price as that of new Pak assembled is that they are more durable than local new ones.

I drive a diesel VW Passat, which gives 27 Kms/ liter; zero maintainence for 50000 kms. Very low emission with a price tag of equal to 2.0 million Pak rupee. Oil and car sector has with help of corrupt leaders have deprived Pakistan with a choice of owning a fuel efficient car at a reasonable price. Bag engines, bad safety record, lack of technology transfer, high prices all this given the corrupt leadership and greedy oil and auto sector. Liberalization and development of infrastructure at local level so that one day we stop looking out side for cars by choice not due to prices or taxes is the only solution. Pakistan Zindabad

All these reactions give one side of the story -- used imported cars are good, locally produced cars are bad. Is there another side to it ? I would like to know.

dont sell. he is joking

These type of news are circulated every few years, the car manufacturers pay the ransom and heavy import duty on import of cars continues. This is just an act of extortion. If the Government was sincere, they could abolish the massive import duty on vehicles not more then 5 years old and ban import of vehicles older then 5 years. Be advised that vehicles driven in Japan for 5 years are better then brand new vehicles in the same price range. They are longer lasting, more comfortable and provide more safety to the occupants.

Duties on cars will never be reduced by these corrupt leaders of ours. They all get a nice hefty cheque from the 3 car manufacturers. These 3 have been looting the consumer of Pakistan for the past 25 years and till we don't get some sensible leadership nothing will change.

Its really far better option to purchase a imported used vehicles, rather then buying suzuki mehran for Rs 630000 Mr Awais. If used cars are expensive and defective then why are you worrying about the market share of local companies,Today's consumers are smart enough to decide whats qualitative and economical.

Most of the Used cars available in Pakistan are under 1 Million Rupees, whereas if we go for locally made cars, even a car without trunk costs 1.1 million (swift)...It is because of these used imported cars that the premium on Local Cars is zero, otherwise the cost of local cars would have been even more exorbitant

Mr. Ovais is totally wrong. I have both old imported and new-Pakistani cars, and I honestly think old Japanese cars are better than new cars being provided by Honda or Toyota in Pakistan. Can someone believe that new Honda Car worth over 1300000 did not have a light in the boot? These manufacturers are actually looting the consumers in Pakistan. It is good to have competition so I totally support proposed govt. policy.

when will suzuki realize that seat belts are also important, the same engine which was installed in FX still exists and they are creating those crappy stuff which has no technical manuals on internet nor with Pak Suzuki, this is why they got the monopoly of installing those parts which are created by countries such as china, india and taiwan. Govt must encourage healthy competition among the manufacturers not for price but quality as well.

I do not agree with the author at all - because of the protectionism provided to them, the domestic manufacturers are producing substandard cars. This is particularly true of Toyota, which sells rear seat belts as an optional extra in its premium models! This sort of a car in Europe would not even be considered road worthy. The suspension system which Toyota uses are also outdated, the rear axle has a combined suspension rather than a 4 wheel individual suspension for the whole car. I had a 1992 model Japanese corolla which had a much better and comfortable drive than the brand new local cars. Furthermore, the 2.0D model (saloon, SE or otherwise) has a 67 bhp engine! Such low horse power for a car of that size? Absolutely ridiculous! The cornering and the road handling is also atrocious, you can't think of making a reasonable bend even at 60 kmph and that too with top of the range tyres. And don't get me started on the noise, there is virtually no noise proofing at all in the car, making the ride extremely uncomfortable. I will even go as far as challenging Toyota to sell this car in its current state in Europe, its crappy quality! This proposed measure is a great idea to not only introduce competitiveness but also force the manufacturers to improve quality, offering better value for money.

Syed Ovais Akhtar: I am an owner of second hand imported car but I am more than satisfied with the the quality of used imported cars. The imported used car was in better shape than a zero meter car when I purchased it and even after its use in Pakistan is better than Zero meter locally manufactured car used for same period. Our Auto Industry must learn to Compete. They should learn to provide value for our money, I am sure when they would do that the consumers would prefer a locally manufactured car over a used imported car.

First you should sell you car.. then talk about others.

or maybe ride horses.

More and cheaper cars will require more CNG.We need more and better roads for these cars.In Pakistan car prices must be increased as soon as possible so that people should think about walking or bicycles or public transport rather than cars.

i absolutely agree with omar. this type of car is unthinkable in the west. There has to be some accountability. unfortunately our politicians don,t have time to get into public safety and welfare issues.

My old imported car is far better than a new local car. I used to buy local cars when they were reasonably priced, but it has become impossible to find anything reasonably priced in local cars. But in old imported cars, with their superior ride, tastefully done interiors, superior fuel consumption and a whole lot of luxury extras, you can get reasonable prices for quite nice cars. The local industry is pricing itself out of the market. This must stop. Either the cheapest Cuore or Mehrans must have a nicer, quieter interior with better ride or else old cars will continue to be prized over them.