After Nissan Renault
to open plant in Pakistan by 2018
ISLAMABAD: French automobile manufacturer Renault has
decided to start assembling cars in Pakistan, a move that is expected to break
the monopoly of existing industry players besides providing a chance to
consumers to buy better-quality vehicles at comparatively lower prices.
Miftah Ismail, the BOI chairman, told Dawn that the French
car manufacturer had submitted its application to the government for the
manufacture of vehicles. The application is now under process at the BOI and
the Engineering Development Board.
This will be the first time that a European car manufacturer
will set up a plant in Pakistan.
"Groupe Renault confirms it has entered into exclusive
negotiations with Ghandhara and Al Futtaim Groups to develop the Renault brand
in Pakistan, including a manufacturing plant on the Ghandara site in
Karachi," Renault told AFP.
Mr Ismail said that Renault would initially make an
investment of $100 million to produce 6,000 vehicles per shift at the plant set
up by Ghandhara Nissan Motors in Karachi. A technical team of Renault visited
the plant on Thursday. Renault intends to manufacture 16,000 vehicles in three
shifts and to raise the production capacity to 50,000 in two phases.
The move is expected to force the existing car assemblers to
reduce prices of their brands. In the last fiscal year, sales of locally
assembled vehicles rose 12% to 257,752 units, according to data compiled by the
Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association.
According to the BOI chief, Renault will manufacture both
SUVs and sedan cars.
