Kia Motors Pakistan has been active since returning to the market under the collaboration with Yunus Brothers Group’s Lucky Cement Company Ltd.
The numbers the car manufacturer has received this year are astounding. In the first quarter of 2020-21, Kia Motors reportedly got a sales figure of Rs. 20.5 billion, far exceeding sales of Rs. 3.84 billion over the same period last year.
Similarly, an operating profit of Rs. 1.54 billion was recorded in the first quarter this year by the car manufacturer, comparing with the same period previous year Kia Motors reported an operating loss of Rs. 332 million. Besides, the Kia Complex in Bin Qasim Industrial Park last year had only 450 employees but now has more than 1,400 employees.
With promising developments taking place before the end of 2020, significant progress will still be made to Kia according to a report shared by Dawn. In a recent interview with the media, the CEO of Lucky Motors Corporation (LMC), Asif Rizvi, noted that the company’s product strategy is focused on providing a wide variety of larger and better vehicles.
According to Rizvi, the company is pursuing an ‘aggressive localization’ that will reduce production costs significantly and provide more cars with brilliant specs and features at the best prices.
Rizvi further said “The newest and third addition to our locally-assembled range will be the Kia Sorento – a midsize seven-seater SUV built for comfort on a car platform with a V6 3.5-litre 276 hp engine. It will be available in three variants. Additionally, a fully revamped, imported Carnival passenger vehicle is also being launched this month. We will start bookings in January 2021 and deliveries in February 2021.”
Kia Motors Pakistan is also bringing some Complete Knock Down (CKD) components to Pakistan to meet the growing needs of its vehicles and to strengthen its products.
Rizvi also declared that the “The outlook for 2021 is very buoyant with a year-on-year expected growth of over fifty percent. We are fully geared up to take advantage of the expected rapid market growth. We will top it up with some phenomenal new products.”
Speaking on the general nature of electric vehicles (EVs), the CEO of LMC praised the government’s aggressive approach for the development of an appropriate EV policy. He hopes that the approval given to car manufacturers for EVs will encourage the establishment of new technologies in the industry.
Rizvi expressed his interest when asked about the 2016-21 Auto Development Policy (ADP),but agreed that the government should introduce a stable policy where the current industry continues to operate without uncertainty.
Asif Rizvi in the end concluded that “The new entrant policy should not be extended beyond its stipulated date. The existing and new players, totaling more than ten, should be allowed to operate undeterred under a stable policy. Frequent changes in the policy lead to uncertainty and concern in the minds of foreign partners.”
