Automakers want electric vehicles policy to be shelved

LAHORE: Automakers have accosted the government to put much-trumpeted electric/hybrid vehicles policy on hold for one year while they are involved in offsetting the impact of falling sales in the novel coronavirus outbreak.

Pak Suzuki Motor and Honda Atlas Car are unanimous that the Engineering Development Board (EDB) should delay the electric and hybrid vehicles policy 2020-2025 for one year due to coronavirus as they are anticipating huge losses this year.

Pak Suzuki Chief Executive Officer Masafumi Harano and Honda Atlas Vice President Maqsoodur Rehman, in separate letters to EDB, called for delay in the announcement of electric and hybrid vehicles policy by one year.

“The delay in announcement would give the industry more time for brainstorming and industry will also get much-needed time to recover from the current situation,” said a letter, seen by The News.

Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association’s data showed that car sales dropped 43.4 percent to 79,537 units in the first eight months of the current fiscal year of 2019/20. That compared with 140,462 units in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Further, the automakers said incentives should be the same for hybrid and electric vehicles. Hybrid vehicle is completely new and the industry would require huge fresh investments for its manufacturing. The incentives for the hybrid vehicles would transfer into good numbers of employment generation, growth in auto sector and substantial increase in government revenue through taxes, they said. Last month, the auto industry development committee finalised the tariff rates for car, sports utility vehicles and light commercial vehicle. However, tariff rates mentioned in the draft policy circulated by the Engineering Development Board were different than the tariff rates discussed and finalised in the meeting, they said.

Suzuki and Honda proposed that the tariff rates should be incorporated in the electric and hybrid vehicles policy as mentioned in the working papers of 30th and 31st meeting of the auto industry development committee and finalised in one of the meetings. The electric and hybrid vehicles policy 2020-2025 should be amended as per the decided tariff before final announcement.

The auto industry proposed incentives for cars, sports utility vehicles and light commercial vehicles in line with the auto development policy 2016-21. They sought one percent custom duty for electric vehicle-related category motors, drivetrain and battery and one percent custom duty for hybrid electric vehicle category parts specific to hybrid or other advanced technology for both new and old entrants under the auto development policy. Five percent general sales tax was proposed for tractor industry to encourage the electric vehicles and locally-manufactured hybrid vehicle penetration.