Local auto industry urges govt to regulate illegal used car imports

KARACHI: To safeguard the sustainability of many livelihoods in the nation, preserve the interests of local automakers, and revitalize the local market, the auto industry has pushed the government to reduce the number of imported vehicles.

“The local auto industry has advised the government to intervene in this matter, with suggestions of corrective measures in the upcoming budget for supporting the local auto industry,” said Chief Executive of Indus Motor Company Ali Asghar Jamali, while talking to a group of journalists here in Karachi on Wednesday.

Local manufacturers would be facing a loss of around Rs45 billion in FY24, as the share of imported used cars would increase to 28 per cent from 8.0 per cent in FY20.He added that increasing duties (including indiscriminately implementing regulatory duty on all types of imported used cars, instead of selective drive train), and taxes in the upcoming budget will provide an opportunity to regulate the excessive import of used cars into the country, along with helping the local auto industry to benefit from a slightly better business climate, stable exchange rate parity, and a foreseeable reduction in interest rates.

“We were expecting an improvement in auto demand from January 2024 onwards, but this too has proved disappointing for the local industry due to the substantial import of used cars. It also continues to impact local vendors’ industry quite severely,” said Jamali.During July-April this year, local automakers witnessed a drop of 35 per cent in their overall sales against the same period last year (93,003 units in July–April FY24 vs 142,664 units in the corresponding duration of FY23).