KARACHI, April 3: Two Japanese bike makers have asked their dealers to recover Rs900 to Rs1,550 from the customers on account of freight, forwarding and PSQCA levy, while another assembler has increased price by Rs1,000.

Similarly, some Chinese bike makers have also pushed up their price by Rs1,000 owing to rising cost of material and parts.

The price of Honda CD-70cc has been revised upward to Rs50,890 from Rs49,990 and Honda CG-125 to Rs70,900 from Rs69,900 in the second week of March 2008, a dealer of Atlas Honda told Dawn on Thursday.

He recalled that Honda CD-70 and CG-125 were priced at Rs69,000 and Rs78,500 on May 18, 2003. The company has revised its prices downward by at least by three times since May 19, 2003.

He said that the production cost of motorcycle had increased after price increase in various parts and yen appreciation against the dollar.

Pak Suzuki Motor Company has increased the price by Rs1,000 from April 1, 2008, while Dawood Yamaha Limited has asked its dealers on March 29 to start recovering Rs1,550 from the customers.

A Chinese bike maker said it had jacked up prices by Rs1,000 and other assemblers would follow the suit. However, he said bike makers were mulling to lift up the prices by another Rs1,500 per unit.

The entry of Chinese bikes few years back has forced the Japanese assemblers to reduce their prices to keep their market share intact. As a result sales of 70cc bikes are booming due to a big price difference. Chinese bikes are priced at Rs34,000-35,000 as compared to Rs50,890 of Honda CD-70.

The Japanese bike has lost its share in Karachi owing to rising snatching and theft, while Chinese bikes do not face this problem as they have a low resale value.

The Japanese bike makers believe that the Chinese bike makers are involved in tax evasion and under-invoicing of parts and accessories as is evident from their low prices despite rising production cost.

The Chinese bike makers have been holding meetings with Customs Valuation Department to resolve an issue regarding fixing of new valuation of parts and components.

On March 15, the Customs Valuation Department informed the Chinese assemblers that parts’ values of 2006 were still being referred and there was a need for re-validated price determination.

Bike makers informed the Customs Department that values of parts and components for 70cc were already on the higher side.

The Valuation department officials asked the assemblers to provide documentary evidences in support of their declaration in order to verify their values.

On March 27, another meeting held in which parts importers had given their proposals and working sheet based upon the local market price of Atlas Honda Pakistan, price quotation from Chinese suppliers and recommendations containing C&F values of 18 bike parts.

The Association of Pakistan Motorcycle Assemblers (APMA) had given their proposals with price of various parts comparing with different Chinese suppliers.

A 10-member committee had been formed to conduct market enquiry for determining customs value of bike parts.