PESHAWAR: The Chairman Pakistan Automobile Assemblers Dealer Association (PAMADA) welcomed the additional registration tax on transfer of new cars within three months imported in Pakistan in personal capacity.
Early delivery demanded by customers encourages investors to exploit customers by offering vehicles on premium payments, and if customers book their vehicles and secure delivery as per schedule offered by companies, no premium will exist,” he reasoned.
These cars are manufactured against individual orders of the customers, and the industry has taken various steps towards discouraging premiums such as refusing multiple bookings of vehicles on a single CNIC, displaying vehicle availability information on the dealership floors and on the company website, he added.
This was stated by Iqbal Shah, Chairman Pakistan Automobile Assemblers Dealers Association (PAMADA), on the other day while talking to media.
He clarified that vehicles are not commodity items which can be made and shelved. “We request the customers to book their vehicles only at the authorized dealerships and wait for the delivery of their vehicles as per delivery date”. He added that with customers’ support, the menace of premiums on car prices can be eliminated.
He said the OEMs discourage premiums and have run consumer education campaigns through advertisements and have made available the vehicle availability information on their website, however demand for immediate delivery from customers against actual delivery time continues to encourage investors to charge own money.
He also mentioned that due to government’s efforts to improve the economy and the stimulus in the market from the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), domestically manufactured vehicles are in high demand.
“Lead times on vehicle delivery arise whenever there is high demand and are a common phenomenon across the globe”, he said, referring to the almost six-month waiting period on certain Suzuki variants in India.
Speaking on capacity enhancement by various OEMs, Iqbal added “presently all automakers are operating at full capacity and resorting to production overtimes to meet demand besides working on increasing their capacity.
The Auto Industry Policy 2016-2021 is attracting new entrants from all across the Globe. Their entry into Pakistan will result in more choices for the consumers and encourage healthy competition among various OEMS.
We are at a tipping point today as we were back in 2007 when industry was investing in expansion however sudden relaxation of used cars import policy adversely affected the market resulting in closure of three plants.
Therefore in order to sustain the interest of global players in Pakistan auto market, stability and consistency of policies are needed”.
