Indus Motor to launch Vios car with the name of ‘Yaris’
KARACHI: The Indus Motor Company Ltd (IMC) is going to introduce its new car Toyota Vios in Pakistan with a different name Toyota ‘Yaris’, the company’s source said.
The Toyota Yaris 1.3 and 1.5 categories would be replaced with Toyota Corolla GLi in Pakistan in December 2019, the source claimed.
The new model of Vios in 1.5L 1NZ-FE engines is being produced in Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand. The 2nd generation Vios has been introduced as Belta in Japan, and Yaris Sedan in the United and Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, the Middle East and Australia.
Since the start of Toyota vehicles production in Pakistan, IMC largely depends on Corolla XLi and Corolla GLi models as these are the flagship models of the company in Pakistani market.
The government had recently tightened the rules of importing refurbished car to benefit the locally assembled car companies.
H.M Shahzad, chairman All Pakistan Motor Dealers Association (APMDA), said that ministry of commerce has once again revived a condition for used car imports and the decision would hurt the Pakistani customers.
The government, through a notification, had imposed condition of duty payment and taxes in foreign exchange to be directly remitted from abroad by the person importing the vehicle. Most used cars are imported in Pakistan under baggage rules or gift scheme, which is designed for personal purposes only, but are then sold off in the market.
All car assemblers and their vendors hailed the decision of the ministry of commerce, but on the other hand traders of used cars severely criticize it. The decision would eliminate their businesses as the import of used or refurbished cars would halt.
“The decision has been taken to benefit local assemblers,” Shahzad said. The government had taken a one-sided decision without taking used car importers into the confidence, he claimed.
Data of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics shows that imports of completely built-up cars (90 per cent used cars) fell by 43 per cent in the first half of fiscal year 2019. The total imports were $156 million versus $277 million in same period last fiscal.
In a statement, he said, almost one million vehicles are sold in the market annually in which local assemblers supply about 250,000 vehicles and about 70,000 are imported. The rest of the public is dependent on buying five to 20-year-old used cars. Besides, 95 per cent of the used imported cars are of 660-1,000cc which have very good mileage on petrol. The 660cc vehicles are not assembled in Pakistan.
Transfer of residence, personal baggage or gift scheme are the only mechanisms through which import of new/used vehicles are permissible in Pakistan. In absence of any other means for import of vehicles, by virtue of this SRO, import of vehicles, which generates handsome revenue for the government in shape of import duties, levies and income tax, is likely to be shut down completely, bringing revenues to zero, he said.
In absence of imported vehicles in the market, the public will be at the mercy of local assemblers who, after new decision, will sell their products at exorbitant prices owing to the lack of competition. Due to limited production capacity of local assemblers, the on-money or premium over the actual price of a vehicle would also increase manifold, he claimed.
If the government thinks that the present schemes are being misused, then it should allow commercial imports so that the used car import business may continue, he asked the government.
Mr Shahzad said that importers will urge Prime Minister Imran Khan and Finance Minister Asad Umar to review the decision and hold a meeting with used car dealers on the issue.
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