The import bill of Completely Built-Up (CBU) vehicles has risen by 193.7percent in the first half of the Fiscal Year 2020-21 (FY21). The importbill stood at $94 million in the first half of FY21 as compared to just $32million in the first half of the Fiscal Year 2019-20 (FY20).

The rise in the imports of CBUs was largely due to the increase in demandfor vehicles as well as the new entrants in the auto sector.

The overall import bill had dropped by 55 percent in FY20 as compared tothe previous year due to the governmental policies to discourage the importof used cars while encouraging the sales of locally manufactured cars aswell as policies to welcome new entrants into the auto sector. Theimprovement in the economy after the lockdown has also lead to an increasein demand.

The Chairman of the All Pakistan Motor Dealers Association (APMDA), H.M.Shahzad, said that the figures of the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS)cover CBU imports of both used and new cars in which 660-1,000cc hold anover 90 percent share.

He also claimed that 10,000-12,000 used cars, SUVs, pickups, etc. wereimported during July-Dec 2020 which is far lower when compared with overallimports of 18,500 units in FY20, 55,000 units in FY19, and 82,500 units inFY18.

Source: Dawnlink