INDUSTRY NEWS JULY 2007
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1	Automobile Sales Grow By 6.3% To 165,268 Units	JULY 2007: The local auto manufacturers rolled out 18,484 units during June 2007, breaking previous record of 15,994 units set in March 2006. The car industry sales grew by 6.3% to 165,268 units as against 155,515 units in FY06. "This growth can be attributed to the lesser interest of investors in the imported vehicles as the cars registered negative growth of 13.9% during the first eleven months of the current fiscal year", said Hettish Karmani, head of research at Atlas Car Markets. According to figures released for first eleven months of 2006-07, only 26,802 units were imported in 11M/FY07 of which 18,680 were cars and jeeps of different engine powers. In the previous year over 55,000 units were imported into the country. Cumulative production and sales volume of the four listed car assemblers jumped by $% and 9% to 196,405 units and 201,421 units respectively. Pak Suzuki led with a market share of 61% and units sales of 122,426 in FY07 compared to market share of 54% and unit sales of 99,105 in FY06. Indus Motors followed with market share of 24% and sales volume of 48,590 locally assembled units. The rest was shared by remaining two assemblers who managed to roll out 30,405 units as against 44,399 units in last fiscal year. The car assemblers have raised their prices since July 1 following the imposition of one percent special excise duty. They will be raising their prices further when the 2. 5% withholding tax imposed on locally manufactured vehicles comes into force from September 1, 2007. As per recent notification, the government has reduced withholding tax from 5% to 2.5% on locally manufactured cars. The levy would be applicable from September 1, 2007. This reduction was done with a view to promote and strengthen the local industry. The industry has apprised the CBR of the problems arising from imposition of 5% withholding tax that was announced in the budget. (Source: Engineering Development Board - Industrial Bulletin July Edition)
2	China Keen In Pakistan's Auto Sector	ISLAMABAD, July 5: The Dong Feng Automobile Company of China has shown interest in entering into joint venture with the Pakistan Automobile Company (Paco). This was stated by a delegation of the Dong Feng during their meeting with the Federal Minister for Industries Jahangir Khan Tareen here on Thursday. The delegation is on a visit to Pakistan to discuss the possibility of a joint venture with Paco. An official announcement issued here said that the meeting discussed the possibility and terms and conditions of the joint venture between Paco and Dong Feng. It was decided that discussions would continue between experts from both sides to work out modalities of a joint venture between Dong Feng and Paco. Dong Feng's representatives in their presentation told the meeting that Dong Feng was one of the biggest automobile manufacturers in China . Trucks, pickups and buses are the main products of the company, they said. The delegation members further said they wanted to introduce their products in Pakistan according to the market demand. The minister assured full cooperation and support to the Chinese delegation and said every effort would be made to make this joint venture a success once all the formalities and modalities are agreed and settled. It has been present government's policy to encourage and facilitate investment, he added.
3	CBU Imports Up By 83%: Auto Imports Breach $1 Billion	The import of road motor vehicle surged by 24% (MoM) in March to reach $121.992 million taking the total imports during July-March 2006-07 to 10.37 billion. In February this year the road motor vehicle imports were registered at $99.157 million. The data issued by the Federal Bureau of Statistics (FBS) proves this situation, as the import of Completely Built Units (CBUs) surged by 83% to reach $48.423 million in March 2007 as compared to $26.378 million in February. According to the statistics, imports of completely built-up units, which include both new & used vehicles, were down 3% as compared to $49.608 million in March 2006. The CBU import bill for the period under review includes units of trucks, busses, motorcars and motor cycles contributing $11.534 million, $36.66 million and $49,000 respectively. CKD/SKD imports during March went down by 18 % reaching $60.716 million against $51.143 million in February 2007. Under the parts and accessories head, the imports during the month of March were down by 41% on MoM basis to reach $9.392 million as compared to $15.972 million. (Source: Engineering Development Board - Industrial Bulletin July Edition).