Indus Motor Company (IMC), the assembler and seller of Toyota-brand vehicles in Pakistan, has increased prices of its cars for a third time in 2023 citing “economic uncertainties and extreme volatile situation of rupee against US dollar”.
In a letter sent to its dealers on February 14, the company raised prices of its cars by up to Rs890,000. The first price hike came on January 12 followed by another price increase later last month.
“As you are aware, economic uncertainties and the extreme volatile situation of rupee against dollar has adversely impacted the cost of manufacturing for IMC,” read the notification.
“Thus, this situation has made it extremely difficult for IMC to hold the current indicative retail selling prices, and therefore, we are compelled to pass on some impact to the market,” it added.
Yaris 1.3MT, the cheapest Toyota car in Pakistan, will now sell for Rs4.279 million after a hike of Rs200,000.
Pak Suzuki raises car prices for second time in a month
The basic Corolla variant – 1.6 MT will sell for Rs5.529 million after an increase of Rs260,000.
Meanwhile, the company’s most expensive locally assembled vehicle Fortuner Diesel Legender’s price has now risen by Rs890,000. Its new price is Rs17.959 million.
In late January 2023, the company raised car prices in the range of Rs260,000-1.16 million.
Earlier on January 12, IMC raised car prices across its entire lineup in the range of Rs280,000-1.21 million.
Over the past one month, Suzuki, Honda Atlas Cars, Lucky Motor Corporation (KIA) and Hyundai Nishat Motor also announced hikes in car prices amid rapid rupee depreciation.
Pakistan’s auto sector has been struggling due to rupee depreciation as well as the issues hindering the opening of the Letters of Credit (LCs) issues. Car companies are unable to import completely knocked down (CKDs) units due to this problem.
Automobile sales in Pakistan fell to the lowest level since June 2020 as they witnessed a drop of 36% month-on-month to 10,867 units in January 2023, according to the data released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA). On a year on year basis, car sales fell 47%.