With letters of credit (LCs) closed for all ‘unnecessary’ imports in Pakistan, the country’s automakers — both two-wheelers and four-wheelers — are in a bad way.
Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) has also extended the bike production shutdown by two weeks, according to a recent notification to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).
According to the official notification:
Suzuki Plant
Production was initially halted between March 20 and March 31. The corporation then announced another outage from April 4 through April 15. According to the most recent notification, the suspension has been extended from April 16 to April 28.
This means that Suzuki will not have produced a single bike for more than a month by the end of the latest production stoppage.
Suzuki’s bike costs have skyrocketed, with the GD110 S, its most affordable commuter bike, reaching Rs. 322,000. The GS150, which costs Rs. 350,000, is the next in line.
Following that comes the GSX125, which costs Rs. 469,000, and the most costly bike in Suzuki’s lineup, the GR150, which costs Rs. 501,000.
It is expected that the recent production halt will be followed by a price increase, significantly reducing their demand.
Suzuki vehicles, pickups, vans, 4x4s, and motorcycles, as well as related spare parts, are assembled, manufactured, and marketed by PMSC. The Suzuki brand originated in Japan.
Pakistan’s auto industry is now facing a number of challenges. Due to economic challenges, other publicly traded enterprises, like Indus Motor Company Limited and Honda Atlas Cars, have had to suspend manufacturing in recent months.
Previously, Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan had to extend its manufacturing outage by another 15 days. Other automakers, like Indus Motor Company Limited, have declared temporary production shutdowns.
According to the most recent figures from the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA), Pakistan’s auto sector reported car sales of 9,211 units in March, which is 66% lower than the number in March 2022.
JS Research analyst Wasil Zaman said in a report that “with foreign exchange reserves at critically low levels leaving little room for improvement on the supply side for auto manufacturers, we expect cumulative volume decline during fiscal year 2023 to clock in at over 50% year-on-year, which will extend to first half of the fiscal year 2024”.
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