Kia Pakistan has temporarily suspended the new bookings of the Kia Picanto hatchback, Sportage FWD, and the reservations of the newly launched Stonic EX and EX+ crossover are also postponed.
KIA has sent a recent notification about the suspension of bookings to all its authorized franchises. However, the production, dispatches, and invoicing will continue as planned by the company.
According to the notice, all models of Kia Picanto hatchback along with Sportage CUV’s bookings are on hold. Moreover, the company has also suspended its latest models of Stonic EX and EX+ crossover. However, the CBU units of Stonic are still sold at the company.
Read more: LMC increases prices of KIA cars again!
Furthermore, the bookings of Kia Sorento are open and have not witnessed any price revisions recently. Despite the reduction in its prices the company is still struggling hard to establish a firm market for a 7-seat CUV.
On the other hand, the Kia Carnival luxury MPV which comes as a CBU import has recently observed a price hike, with an increase of Rs 500,000, and the new price of Rs 10,499,000 is open for booking.
Global shortage
Since the COVID-19 Pandemic, the cost of production and delivery of vehicles have been affected greatly around the globe. The world’s leading auto industries in Japan and the US faced a shortage of microchips, resulting in the cessation of car production. Moreover, the cost of the shipment and raw materials has also increased making it difficult for industries to operate.
Kia motors may have suspended the bookings due to the global semiconductor chip shortage. This has resulted in a huge loss of billions of dollars and inefficacy to keep up with the production and sales at the same time.
Read more: KIA brings out all-new 2022 KIA Sorento Plug-in-Hybrid
Similarly, economic experts and analysts consider this recession to remain until 2023 as the global semiconductor chip is significant in modern vehicle control and electronic functions. The devaluation of the Pakistani currency to the USD exchange rate could also be one of the factors behind the suspension of bookings.