KARACHI: Two Japanese vehicle assemblers have opted to stay out of the price war triggered by a historic cut from Lucky Motor Corporation Ltd (LMCL) and Pak Suzuki Motor Company Ltd (PSMCL).

Honda Atlas Cars Ltd (HACL) has said that several dealers and customers have approached it regarding recent price adjustments made by various market players. Considering these enquiries, HACL “affirms current prices to be maintained.”

The company recently made price revisions for Honda City 1.2L grades. “We hold our ground on price stability with no further decrease at this given time, considering no change in forex and the cost of materials,” HACL added.

Honda Atlas reduced the prices in March by Rs50,000-140,000 in City variants.

Indus Motor Company (IMC) has also distanced itself from the ongoing price war by reassuring that “there will be no price changes for now till further notice.”

In its note to its authorised dealers, IMC said it has received multiple queries regarding recent price adjustments by different market players. “We are committed to maintaining our current pricing structure,” the company said.

IMC has already been conscious of passing on any possible benefit to its customers by adjusting the pricing of its entire product line and further reducing the price of selected variants of Toyota Yaris.

IMC cut the price of various Toyota Yaris models by Rs73,000-133,000 in March.

Premiums return

A considerable price cut of Rs1.513 million in the Kia Stonic EX Plus model to Rs4.767m from Rs6.280m is likely to provide an earning avenue for customers/investors to charge less than Rs500,000 as “premium or on-money” from impatient buyers.

“Paying even a hefty price of less than Rs500,000 for Stonic as on money is still a safe option keeping in view a steep price cut of over Rs1.5m,” market dealers said, adding that customers are trying hard to get Stonic before the Budget 2024-25 to offset any government’s decision regarding additional duties and taxes on the prices.

Besides, the Korean vehicle assembler would also earn handsome interest on the partial and full payments parked in the banks as advance from the customers. LMCL will be giving a “price lock” on orders booked on full/partial payment up to September deliveries, subject to the understanding that any changes in duties and taxes by the federal and provincial governments and additional taxes and duties by the government would be recovered from the customers before the delivery.

Sources added that LMCL had been facing issues like clearing the huge unsold Kia Stonic stocks, lack of fresh orders and piling up CKD inventory. After a record-high price cut, their sales and marketing strategies may pay off.

LMCL said that due to the huge response from the consumers after the price cut, the company is fully booked for deliveries up to September. The company will start delivering the vehicles in May as per the sequence. All bookings taken for delivery in September will be accepted on partial payments of Rs2.35m.

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2024