News Analysis |
As per previous demonstrations on how social media has become a powerful unification tool against hecklers and aggressive business owners in Murree, Pakistani cyberspace has now given voice to a much more national cause; a campaign against monopoly in the auto industry. A Facebook page that goes by the name of CAMBT (Campaign Against Monopoly of Big Three) is hitting masses that have suffered losses of life and revenue against the almost three-decade-long stagnancy in the Pakistani auto market.
The page has started campaigns against Toyota Pakistan, Honda Atlas and Suzuki motors, against all of which Pakistani consumers have been complaining for years. Various individuals and people associated to the campaign have approached the Supreme Court to look into the matter of deteriorating quality, rising prices and harassment of consumers.
The Pakistani automobile industry is set to undergo major changes this year, with various international automakers all set to enter the market. Pakistan has had all of three automakers: Suzuki, Toyota and Honda that have had the market captured for several decades, delivering their products to eager auto enthusiasts. With complaints from the consumer base about increasing prices and deteriorating quality of vehicles, it was high time that Pakistan saw an overhaul, GVS observed several months ago.
The 1989 prodigy and now an overpriced vehicle, the sales of Suzuki Mehran are finally in danger because of the announcements of United Bravo and Datsun Redi-Go. Under the latest government auto policy, numerous global and local automaker brands are looking towards entering the Pakistani market.
Regardless of the oppressive monopoly, the year 2016 saw more than 0.23M vehicles being sold in Pakistan. The numbers continue to rise each year and a positive trend of 10 to 15 percent annual growth has been observed. More than 0.15M cars and jeeps have been sold in Pakistan since mid-2016. If buses, trucks and tractors are included in the stream, the number crosses 0.2M. “Reports and numbers like these exhibited the need for the reinvigoration of the market.
Read more: Bad news for Toyota enthusiasts: Prices to be raised further
People are frustrated but they didn’t have options. Pakistan has multiple layers of the consumer base, but the choices are propping up just now” an official from Pakistan Auto Mobile Association (PAMA) spoke to GVS on condition of anonymity. With new entrants set to release new and internationally acclaimed vehicles owing to the auto policy 2016, the so-called “Big Three” might be in peril, especially the most widely purchased Pakistani cult icon, Suzuki Mehran.
The 1989 prodigy and now an overpriced vehicle, the sales of Suzuki Mehran are finally in danger because of the announcements of United Bravo and Datsun Redi-Go. Under the latest government auto policy, numerous global and local automaker brands are looking towards entering the Pakistani market. Two of them are United Autos and Nissan. United Autos has already been operating under a motorcycle manufacturing flag and Nissan-Gandhara is all set to launch operations later this year. Both companies are going to launch domestic cars in Pakistan that could prove to be a death blow for Suzuki Mehran, GVS earlier reported.