ISLAMABAD

Pak-Suzuki Motors has increased the prices of its all models by up to Rs15,000 from January to pass on the impact of 1 per cent increase in customs duty to customers.
The prices of entry level 800cc cars have been increased by Rs5000, while the prices of 1000cc cars have been jacked up by Rs. 10,000.
We have increased rate by Rs5000 for every model of Suzuki Mehran, Rs10,000 for every model of Wagon-R and Cultus, and Rs15,000 for all the models of Swift, said Ghayas, manager at a local showroom.
The new price of Mehran VX petrol will be Rs630,000, while Wagon-R VX will now be sold at Rs859,000. Cultus petrol will cost Rs1044,000 while Swift’s deluxe revised price would be Rs1297000.
Last month, Indus Motor Company (IMC), makers of Toyota Corolla in Pakistan, also increased its vehicle prices by Rs15,000 to Rs30,000, citing 1% increase in customs duty on completely knocked-down (CKD) and imported parts. Last month, government imposed additional taxes of around Rs40 billion, to meet the fiscal deficit and carry on with the IMF programme. One percent additional duty was levied on local assembled cars. Both the auto assemblers –IMC and Suzuki - instead of absorbing the increase passed the buck to customers.
The Japanese car giants have increased the prices when the auto sector’s gross margins are continuously improving.
In August last year, Indus Motor Company boosted its net earnings by a whopping 135% to Rs9 billion in fiscal year 2015.
According to October last year data, Pak Suzuki’s revenue grew by 78% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs21.2 billion in third quarter of 2015 (3Q2015) as the company sold 33,770 units in the third quarter.
PML-N government after coming into power announced to come up with a comprehensive auto policy to protect the interest of customers and to bind all the assemblers to stick to the standards, and charge rational prices, but despite passing of many years, the so-called pro-consumer policy is yet to be announced.