I AND my wife were excited as we went to book a brand new car recently. As any middle class family would know, it is a major happening in life; something to enjoy, even celebrate. The trigger behind this major step for us was the government’s new auto policy and the recent budget that had brought the car prices down.

It was around 5.30 in the evening when we, with the proverbial spring in our steps, reached the dealership centre close to the Old Sabzi Mandi and started discussing the deal with the sales staff. The car we had our eyes on was priced at Rs1,975,000. In the middle of the discussion, I saw a used Cultus in the showroom, and, out of curiosity, went to have a look. The details stuck on the windshield of the car were quite interesting. The car had done 1,500 kilometres and was priced at Rs2,375,000; which was Rs400,000 higher than the brand-new car of the same make and model.

A little intrigued, I asked the staff and it turned out that those who come there to walk away with a ready-to-drive as-good-as-new car don’t mind paying that much. In the words of the staff, “business is all about making the most of an opportunity!” I asked him how long it will take us to get our car if we booked it on that very day, which we actually intended to do. “About three to fourth months,” came the casual reply.

Before moving on with the story, let us recall that under the new auto policy, car manufacturers are bound to deliver the car within two months, and, in case of failure, they are bound to pay to the customer an amount equivalent of Karachi inter-bank offered rate (KIBOR) plus three per cent.

When I referred to that aspect and gave him due reference of the press conference at which the said policy was announced, the staff simply smiled and advised me to live with the ground reality rather than with government policy. The smirk on his face proved to be the last nail in the coffin of our dream brand new car. I wonder what is the point of announcing a policy when there is no intention to implement it!

Adeel Jafry
Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2021