Indus Motor reduces Toyota’s vehicle’s prices up to Rs 1.3mn

KARACHI: The assembler of Toyota vehicles in Pakistan, the Indus Motor Company (IMC) on Tuesday finally decided to pass on the benefit of appreciation of Pak Rupee VS American US dollar to the consumers.

The auto-giant informed consumers about significant reduction of up to Rs 1.3 million in its prices. The company said that the new prices would be applicable from (Wednesday) October 24, 2023.

Following are the latest prices of Toyota cars:

Few days back some of the other car assemblers or manufacturers had also announced the reduction in their brands.

The company said that Toyota is also facing inventory shortages. Recently, the automaker decided to shut down its plant for a month, from October 17 to November 17, 2023.

The price hasn’t decreased proportionally despite the massive improvement in the US Dollar exchange rates.

Following the price reduction, the basic Yaris model 1.3MT LO has become cheaper by Rs100,000 or 2.2%. The new price is Rs4.399 million.

Meanwhile, its top variant 1.5 CVT Aero will now sell for Rs5.849 million after a reduction of Rs120,000.

Toyota Corolla’s variant price have been reduced between Rs200,000 and Rs250,000.

Toyota’s pick-up Revo trucks have become cheaper between Rs450,000 and Rs790,000.

Meanwhile, the prices of Fortuner’s top variants – the Legender and GRS – dropped below Rs20 million after a reduction of Rs1.13 and Rs1.19 million, respectively.

The highest price-decrease is seen in Fortuner G4x2 Petrol STD, which will now sell for Rs14.499 million after a reduction of Rs1.31 million or 8.3%.

Pakistan’s auto sector heavily relies on imports, and car prices in the country witnessed a significant increase over several months due to rupee’s record depreciation against the dollar.

The rupee even reached a record low of Rs307.1 against the dollar in the inter-bank market on September 5. Since then, it has significantly recovered and is now hovering around the Rs279-280 level.

The currency appreciation came in line with the caretaker government’s action against smugglers and hoarders.

Earlier, other than rupee’s depreciation impact, the auto sector was also hit by the previous government’s decision to put restrictions on imports to save depleting foreign exchange reserves.

Additionally, higher finance costs and massive increase in car prices also reduced consumer demand.

In the first quarter of FY24, car sales in Pakistan stood at 20,983 units, down 40% as compared to the same period the previous year.

The automobile industry in Pakistan is facing demand challenges, primarily driven by high prices, costly auto financing, and a surge in taxes, resulting in a YoY decline in sales.