ISLAMABAD – Top Chinese automotive brand Changan Automobile and MasterMotors have entered into a joint venture with biggest Chinese investment inlocal auto industry of US$100 million to contribute to the indigenizationof the automobile industry of Pakistan.
Changan Automobile Assistant President & Overseas Business DevelopmentDepartment General Manager Wang Huanran and Master Motors Limited ChairmanNadeem Malik signed the agreement to pool their resources and expertise toachieve the common goal of becoming Pakistan’s leading automobile companyby 2025.
“We are excited to see the market potential not only in Pakistan but alsothe export opportunities we can tap. Changan has selected Pakistan as thebase country for right hand drive vehicle (RHV) to export to RHDcountries,” said Wang Huanran while talking to media after the ceremony.
He said that Changan is the largest selling chinese brand in China for 10years in a row touching annual volume of 2.8 million with wide range ofworld class products in LCV, SUV, MPV and passenger cars segment throughjoint ventures in China with manufacturer like Suzuki, Ford, PSA, Mazda,Bosch, Aisin and Scheffler.
Changan is producing world class products with an emphasis on safety andresearch development. Changan has been ranked for No 1 R&D capability forcontinuous 10 years with nine R&D centers in China, Itlay, Japan, UK andUSA.
Also, Changan has partnered with internet services firm Tencent to formsubsidiary to develop the interent of vehicles and is first company tointroduce level 2 autonomous technology in mass production cars in China.
Chairman Master Motors Limited Nadeem Malik said that Master Group isworking in automotive industry for two decades and producing esteemed truckand bus brands and has so far sold over 17000 vehicles in Pakistan.
Pakistan has huge potential in terms of motorization index since it isranked 160th in the world with only 18 vehicles per 1000 inhabitants.Together with Changan we can tap the market potential while leading ontechnology front and offering latest technologies at affordable price todeliver unprecedented value to the customers, he added.
Chief executive officer Master Motors Limited Danial Malik said that we aimto bring value and cutting edge technology to every segment of the market,with an emphasis on SUVs, MPVs and LCVs followed by passenger cars andelectric cars.
This joint venture with Changan will not only create thousands of jobs inthe industry but also promote the Pakistani vendor base through technologytransfer via localization, he added.
He said that our plant being established in Karachi will start productionin December 2018 with the plant capacity of 30,000 units in double shift.“we will start with few thousand units a year and will reach our fullproduction capacity within three years”, he added.