Automark

Whenever the government convinces the private sector to make investment to tap a booming potential – the investors strive hard to cash the opportunity. The situation becomes ugly and alarming when the government itself turns its back and tries to destroy the billions of rupees investment made by the investors.

This situation usually arises when plans are made without any effective feasibility reports and keeping in view future demand and supply situations.

Here the CNG sector fits here as an example as it is one of the unlucky sectors which has come with a bang and is now facing extinction due to lack of government’s working to ascertain future gas shortages and its negative impact on the industry as well as on the people.
First the stakeholders were encouraged by the government some 15 years back to invest in CNG business and now they are in a precarious situation whether to continue business, stay calm or wait for the revival of this sector.

The CNG sector enjoyed a boom in 2006-2008 when the consumers were really wild for the alternative fuel due to 40-50 per cent saving as compared to petrol. CNG outlets used to see a huge rush of buyers. At that time, stakeholders said that over Rs 400 billion investments were made by the investors in setting up CNG stations which also included land price, plant and equipment expenditures etc. The silver lining of the CNG promotion was the opening of indirect and direct jobs of over 400,000 people at that time in thousands of stations all over the country.

A car without CNG was termed useless in terms of its resale value. Transporters had plunged in to install CNG kits and cylinders to cut their fuel expenses.

The country also saw availability of locally assembled CNG vehicles by Pak Suzuki Motor Company Limited (PSMCL) which were sold like hot cakes. Famous Italian company Landi Renzo has established a CNG kit and other accessories of CNG Kits assembly plant in Karachi. While they had started to export these parts to other neighbourhood countries.

The CNG sector did a roaring business even at the low prices as the sales volumes of gas were highly impressive as the majority of cars especially used were utilizing gas followed by equally high consumption by the transporters.

After 2008, the government imposed a ban on issuing licenses for opening of new CNG stations perhaps because of gas shortages followed by a ban on the import of CNG kits and cylinders a few years back.

In the last three to four years, CNG has become a rare commodity due to frequent closure of gas by the utility companies especially in winters.

The year 2021 also proved a bad year for the CNG sector due to opening/closing of pumps, while the situation further became devastating when the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) had announced closure of gas stations from December 2021 till February 15, 2022. Soon after opening of pumps on February 14, 2022, CNG pumps were again closed for three days.

One can gauge losing popularity of gas as on November 30, 2021 as when the gas stations had to close for 2.5 months from December 2021, the CNG stations were deserted and there were no long queues at the station to fill the gas.

When gas stations running on RLNG were reopened on December 14, 2022, there was also no hustle and bustle of buyers at the stations which suggested switching over a sizable number of cars and transports towards petrol and diesel.

In this sad story of losing sales, there is only one hope for the CNG sectors as their precious lands, which they had purchased for setting up CNG stations at low prices 15 years back, will now fetch the price beyond their expectations owing to a boost in property prices. If the investors are not running their CNG outlets or their outlets are not getting desired sales, then they have land in hand which will definitely pay off their old losses and make this investment in other options.

However, people, who had invested in purchasing kits and cylinders at high prices few years back, are also big losers as they are seen disposing off CNG gadgets at Rs 4,000-5,000 which they procured by spending Rs 30,000-70,000 depending on the size of kits and cylinders. Many pushcart owners dealing in old household items (Kabaria) were seen carrying CNG kits and cylinders sold by the vehicle owners.

A number of people were seen clearing kits and cylinders at the auto mechanics shops in the last few months. Some of them had still kept the kits and cylinders in their cars and started running their vehicles on petrol to keep the resale value of vehicles intact, as they believed.
Vice Chairman All Pakistan CNG Association, Samir Najmul Hussain was a bit angry in saying that buyers have still not returned to the CNG outlets as bulk of car and transport owners are using petrol and diesel.

He recalled that in 2016, gas consumption by CNG outlets in Sindh was 90 mmcfd followed by 250mmcfd in Punjab. In November 2021, Sindh stations were using 40 mmscfd which has plunged to 7 to 8mmcfd of gas.

“Inconsistent supply of gas and lingering fear of closing down of pumps have ruined the CNG sector,” he said.
Only 450 pumps in Sindh are operating followed by 800 in Punjab, 16 in Balochistan and 450 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Giving a picture of Sindh, he said the government had started giving RLNG to the station owners from July 2020 but unavailability of gas continued to haunt vehicle owners as well as station owners.

Besides, the government had also raised the general sales tax to 17 per cent from five per cent, forcing the owners to jack up prices by Rs 10-15 per kg after opening of pumps recently.

The unaccounted for gas (UFG) usually remains in the range of five to seven per cent all over the world but in Pakistan, UFG is in double digit. This has also led to increase in gas prices by the utility companies, he said.
He said public transporters have still not diverted towards gas which is evident from their lack of presence at the stations.
Many private transporters had been filing CNG despite closure of pumps from Dec 1, 2021 to January 14, 2022. However, Hussain clarified that some transporters had managed to get the gas from some stations based in the Hub area. However, a number of transporters had plied buses and coaches on diesel and LPG in this period.

“People will only return to CNG when it is supplied 24/7, otherwise looming fear of suspension in gas supply anytime will keep gas sales highly depressed,” he said.
Besides, much would depend on the saving ratio in gas as compared to petrol. Currently, saving ratio in gas stands at over 15-20 per cent than petrol based on gas price of up to Rs 200 per kg and petrol price at Rs 160 per litre.

“In case petrol price goes up to Rs 200 per litre by May in view of war like situation between Russia and Ukraine and CNG prices remain intact, then people may return towards gas depending on its availability,” he hoped.
On job losses of workers/staffers during the 2.5 months shut down of CNG stations, he said pump owners had maintained permanent staffers like cashier, dispenser operators and guards by giving them salaries without any pay cut. However, daily wagers at the pumps had settled themselves in petrol/diesel pumps after losing work at CNG stations.

When asked about the return of the old days of booming gas sales, he said “if the government allows the private sector to import RLNG then it can prove a ray of hope for the revival of this sector.”
He shared some good news that some businessmen had imported new kits from a reputed Italian company which cost Rs 85,000-90,000 especially for EFI cars which would really prove a relief for the masses in terms of saving. Besides, fiber cylinders of 15 kg weight are also available.

“These new technologies in CNG kits and cylinders will be hard to sell in view of unpredictable gas availability scenarios,” Hussain said.
Besides some positive advantages of CNG like no option to steal the gas from the vehicles, one of the main negative aspects of using gas in vehicles was the slow destruction of engines and other parts. For air conditioner cars, the use of CNG is equal to the death of a person because of suffocation.

It has always been felt that CNG is certainly unfit for petrol engines but for the saving purpose, people took the risk despite knowing the bitter fact of paying the price of saving after destruction of engines with the passage of time. The entire saving made in the last few years by using CNG goes into making a complete engine at a price of Rs 40,000-70,000 depending on the engine power.

This exclusive article has been published in Automark Magazine, March-2022 printed edition

After a one-year’s interlude, the Pakistan Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) pitched its well awaited largest show (PAPS 2022) in the country in Lahore. The show was to be held in Karachi, but the space issues the show was driven up to Lahore for 29-31 July 2002, at Expo centre Lahore. Hectic preparations substantiate the organizers’ claims of breaking all previous records of participation. The organizers looked enthused and optimistic about enticing the exhibitors to showcase their innovations worldwide.

The kaleidoscopic launching ceremony held at Lahore and attended by a large number of automobiles and parts manufacturers across the country. The government had announced many incentives for the auto sector a couple of months ago, followed by the prime Minster Visit to China especially focussing on new investors for this growing market of 220 million.

The major auto brands (OEMs), auto parts manufacturers, and ancillary industries’ leading figures packed the hall on its launching ceremony for its forthcoming 17th edition of PAPS 2022. Mr. Anas Haroon unleashed the new features of the show in detail. Syed Nabeel Hashmi, the chief organizer, said about 150 international and local producers of cars, tractors, buses, antiques, motorcycles, heavy bikes, rickshaws, parts manufacturers and tool makers showed their interests to showcase a wide range of their products. He saw a major role PAPS 2022 would play in the auto sector, service industries, and machinery producers.

Talking to the charged participants, Rehan Riaz, the Convener of PAPS 2022, said that agents of international Exhibitors from all over the world like Germany, China, the UK, Iran, Bangladesh, Japan, Taiwan, India, Malaysia were present on the occasion to secure the space for their principles. The Convener also informed about inducting a Virtual-Cum-Physical show for the foreign and national exhibitors, who wish to exhibit their products remotely in PAPS-2022. Muhammad Akram, Former Chairman of PAAPAM, was also among the speakers who added that mega-event had become the trademark of the PAAPAM and Pakistan.

Abdul Rehman Aizaz, Senior Vice Chairman, said that the previous event was visited by thousands of local and international visitors and buyers from Belgium, South Africa, China, Sudan, Nigeria, UAE, Sri Lanka, India, etc. They were anticipating an unprecedented footfall, much more than before, to this event at provincial metropolitan, he added. Abdur Razzaq Gauhar, Chairman PAAPAM thanks the major brands like Suzuki, Honda, Millat Group of Companies, MG and Proton to show their keen interest in exhibiting their new arrivals.

While stressing the significance of roadshows, he said they were the modern platform to bridge the business gaps across the globe. To him, exhibitions were the most effective tools of business promotions, investment, and connections. Pakistan being the 6th largest market, had a great space for the new players, and they were providing them the opportunities to enter into this potential market. Gauhar thanked the guests for an overwhelming response, which showed their confidence in this show. – PR

Toyota was forced to suspend production at all 14 of its factories in Japan starting on Tuesday after an apparent cyberattack took down a key supplier of parts.
The Tokyo-based automaker did not say whether the shutdown — which is expected to cause 13,000 cars worth of lost production — would extend beyond Tuesday or whether it was related to Russia.

The company’s plants in Japan account for about one-third of its global production.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters on Monday that the government would investigate the incident and whether Russia was involved.

“It is difficult to say whether this has anything to do with Russia before making thorough checks,” Kishida said.
A spokesperson for Toyota’s supplier, Kojima Industries, said it appeared to have been the victim of some kind of cyber attack but did not provide details.

The apparent hack comes after experts and US government officials have warned that Russia is likely to ramp up cyberattacks against countries that support Ukraine amid Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion.

Japan in recent days has pledged to give Ukraine $100 million in emergency aid and joined the US and European Union in kicking some Russian banks off of the SWIFT global payments system. The country also said Monday that it would sanction Russia’s central bank.

The apparent hack shows how Toyota’s “just-in-time” production system — which involves arriving parts going straight to the production line instead of being stockpiled — can be vulnerable to disruptions.

Coronavirus-related supply chain woes snarled auto production around the world in 2020 and 2021, sending prices for both new used vehicles skyrocketing.

Toyota production in North America was also disrupted earlier in February by the Canadian trucker protests.
Toyota’s New York Stock Exchange-listed shares were trading down 1.3% on Monday morning amid a broader slump in the markets.

PROTON has started 2022 with a bang and the company on its way to having another fantastic year. The company’s state of the art production line in Tanjung Malim has started rolling out the Proton X50 after assembly lines were affected by the recent floods.

“Today is a special day because less than two weeks after the floods disrupted operations for many of our parts suppliers, we have been able to restart Proton X50 production at Tanjung Malim. This was only made possible by the close cooperation between PROTON and its vendors and is an example of how we can work together to overcome an issue that affected thousands of people,” said Roslan Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer, Proton Edar.

To help expedite recovery efforts, volunteers consisting of Proton staff assisted in clean-up operations at several supplier facilities. They also lent a helping hand to fellow staffers whose homes were damaged by flood waters.

“The floods affected the livelihoods and homes of many families in PROTON’s local community, but it was during these trying times that our sense of responsibility came to the fore and we stepped forward to help anyone we could. The quick restart of production also means we will have more stock to fulfil orders from our customers, so we are looking forward to having a great start to 2022” added Roslan Abdullah.

Source: Proton LinkedIn

Converting to electric is inevitable, says the R&D Chief

In a move that clearly marks the end of the road for internal combustion engines (ICE), South Korean automobile manufacturer Hyundai has shut down its engine development division, The Korea Economic Daily (KED) reported, citing industry sources.

Even as we cover updates that move us towards an electric mode of transportation, there is also the other side that does not think that battery-powered electric vehicles are our only options. Even as countries and carmakers came together on the sidelines of COP26 to ban ICE vehicles by 2040.

In the few months since, there has definitely been a change of heart and strategy in Hyundai Motors according to the recent announcement.

According to the KED report, the shutting down of the engine development division is a major step for the South Korean company that began developing its own engines in 1983. It took the company eight years to roll out its Alpha engine while its successors have enabled the company to become one of the five most preferred brands on a global scale. The Namyang Research and Development (R&D) Center focused on engine development employs about 12,000 engineers who have now received a change in their responsibilities. In an email to employees, the newly appointed R&D chief, Park Chung-kook called their own engine development “a great achievement” but called for “a change in the system to create future innovation” as it was “inevitable to convert into electrification,” KED reported.

Systemic changes include changing the focus of teams that focused on powertrains to electrification development, engine design unit to an electrification design center as the powertrain development center changes to the electrification test center. In automotive engineering terms, an electric vehicle does not have a powertrain, since the motors do not generate power from the fuel. Instead, it has a drivetrain that delivers the stored power to drive the wheels.

Park added that the reorganization aimed to help the company with the immediate task of innovating to develop vehicles that dominate the future market. KED reported that EVs are likely to dominate the automobile market by 2030 as against the previously estimated timeline of 2040.

Hyundai will also focus on raw materials for batteries and semiconductors since they also occupy an important place in the automobile supply chain, something that became evident during the pandemic, KED reported.

Only 100 of these lids will be sold worldwide

Are you a massive Suzuki fan? If that’s you, then you’ll definitely want to know more about an extremely limited-edition Suzuki Anniversary helmet your favorite OEM is about to release. Based on the Arai RX-7, this design is limited to just 100 pieces worldwide. Of these, a total of 30 will be sold exclusively via lottery in Japan, according to a very specific process.

There’s an application on Suzuki Japan’s website for those wishing to apply for the Japanese-market lottery. If you’re a fan located elsewhere, you’ll have to contact your local Suzuki dealers to find out what information they have about availability in your region. Suzuki Japan will not ship the helmets it has designated for the Japanese market outside the country, so attempting to enter that lottery won’t help your cause.

If you’re currently located in Japan, here’s how it works: 10 helmets each in sizes M, L, and XL will be available within the country. There’s a lottery application form to fill out, from which the lucky people who will have the opportunity to purchase these helmets will be drawn. Filling out the form only enters your name into the lottery, and does not guarantee anything else.

There are qualifications you must meet to successfully apply, apart from currently living in Japan. You must have a credit card that Suzuki accepts. If you’re a minor, you must have the consent of your parent or guardian. Only one application per person is accepted, and multiple applications from any person will be discarded (although the first one will be kept). The lottery application period in Japan will range between January 11, 2022 and January 25, 2022. A winner will be announced on January 31, 2022, and the winner will be notified via the email address they’ve registered on their application.

Suggested retail price for this helmet is ¥143,000, which works out to about $1,261 as of December 20, 2021. It’s unclear what the MSRP will be for this helmet in other markets where it’s made available. Speaking of which, there’s no information available yet on what other markets will be included. Given Suzuki’s long racing history in the U.K., it seems likely that will be one of the markets where fans will have opportunities to purchase this extremely special piece of protective gear.

The customer’s feedback is the most effective tool to monitor, measure and manage customer satisfaction

Whether you are selling any product or service, satisfied customers are the most important resource and the foundation of your continued business success. They are the energetic fuel and forward force to drive your dealership business to the next highest level.
“Customer Delight occurs when the customer’s Perception of their experience of doing business with you exceeds their Expectation.” In formulaic terms: CD=P>E. Research reveals, only “excellence” in service creates “Apostles,” and only “Apostles” bring long term-customer loyalty.
The impact of customer satisfaction in the commercial marketplace cannot be undervalued. AS Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart said: “There is only one boss — The Customer! And he can fire everybody in the company from the Chairman on down, simply by spending his money elsewhere.”
Understanding and satisfying customer’s needs are the highest priority of any successful dealership business. Getting input from your customers is critical to your success. It does not matter how long or how successful your dealership operations may be, you will never cease to better your business by learning from yo , mirrors and coach for whom you are striving to make things. They’ll sense that you are pursuing a quest for improvement. Your customers want a relentless pursuit of quality service and their feedback is the best way to get in front of your customers without attempting to sell them anything.
Measuring customer’s expectations
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it!” and if you can’t quantify it, you can’t measure it! Understand the customer is the component of measuring service quality. It ultimately includes your willingness and ability to know and understand your customer’s wants, needs, and expectations.
Importance of feedback … “We are here to hear you”
The customer defines your service as a coach and nothing can replace customers telling you how they like to be treated, what you are doing right or wrong and what could be done better. It is a wonderful way to constantly improve your service. You’ll learn everything from how they perceive your attitudes of service to how they feel you keep them informed when they have problems. But you won’t learn anything at all if you don’t ASK.

Feedback Channels
Increasingly, social media has also become the first choice channel for most customers when it comes to communicating with your dealership. From a negative Facebook post to an in-person complaint, there is a proliferation of means for customers to complain to dealership customer service that can be somewhat overwhelming. On the flip side, a positive tweet or Facebook post mentioning good customer service can be a marketing boom for the dealerships, while also providing everyday customers with near real-time feedback.
Customers who fail to express a concern or issue to an on duty manager can easily turn to social media and express their experience to hundreds of their friends or followers. When complaints and accusations are made through social media, the first order of business is resolving the issue outside of the public space and de-escalating.
It’s important to look at customer feedback gathered through social media—both negative and positive—in aggregate, not just at the individual comment level. By collecting a larger pool of feedback data (and also combining and comparing it with other sources of feedback) dealerships can be proactive in mining insights from social media channels. In doing so, customer feedback provides an opportunity to uncover unexpected trends, both negative and positive.
Since customers may not share ideas and problems unless they are asked, the creativity of customers may go unnoticed. According to the Harvard Business Review a 5 percent increase in customer retention yields about 25 percent to 125 percent increase in profits.
By measuring CSI we deepen our relationship with the customers, and we monitor customers’ level of satisfaction, expectations, and perceptions by creating an environment that encourages them to share their ideas and concerns. The seeking of feedback from customers can in itself result in positive customer retention.
Sometimes the most effective method of evaluating customer satisfaction is to evaluate your own performance. If you examine the areas of your dealership that have the most concerns to resolve, you may identify strengths and weaknesses without going to the customer.
Many customer concerns are not effectively addressed when they occur and the customer continues to feel anger or frustration over the situation. By taking the initiative to express customer concerns or satisfaction a customer may feel closure in a given situation and has shared critical information with the dealership.
A wonderful benefit of measuring effectiveness is that we can discover what we are doing well. Customers are often quite satisfied by our offerings but unless they are allowed to share their satisfaction, the offering may be changed or updated to a degree that the customer may become dissatisfied.
What to do with the customer’s feedback?

• Thank your customer for taking the time to express their valuable feedback or comments; good or bad, both must be acknowledged first, within one business day, preferably with the same method of receiving.
• Analyse and sort out all the feedback into three segments: complaints, compliments and suggestions. You can further divide common complaints and issues related with the communication, quality, price and time, and the departments involved.
• Apologize for the ones with the complaints and reassure your customers that you are paying serious personal attention to review and resolve, and their input is valued to improve quality assurance programs.
• Drill deep down to the most common critical concerns, probe the prime root causes based on factual facts and take corrective actions, and share all the information with your staff for coaching to avoid repetition.
• Resolve all customers’ concerns to their utmost satisfaction; and follow-up later to re-confirm satisfaction before closing case file, and use collective data to your business advantage.

“One of the surest signs of a bad or declining relationship with a customer is the absence of complaints. Nobody is ever that satisfied, especially not over an extended period of time. The customer is either not being candid or not being contacted” ~ Theodore Levitt of Business School Professor, Harvard University, USA.

Safe Sailing
A while back I had an upset customer complaining about the water leak under the car. I expressed regret and thanks him for bringing it to my attention to review and resolve with pleasure.
He was amazed to see my welcoming tone of voice. He asked, what makes me to embrace complaints with passion and patience as compared to most people who repel to listen to such concerns.
I said; just imagine our dealership as a cruise ship, I am a captain and you’re a voyager. You rushed all the way up to my cabin and knock my door “Captain! Captain! There is water leaking at the lowest deck!” My first response was to thank you so much for bringing it to my attention. “Let’s rush down and inspect cause. If it’s from external sea source, this could be a disaster for all of us and you have saved many lives, just by quick reporting action. However, even if it’s due to a plumbing leak, still it must be investigated and fix for safe sailing, learning and coaching our staff.”
Similarly, listening and respecting the voice of our customer is the most important task for us to improve customer quality care, their feedback serve as a valuable learning tool for us. As Bill Gates said, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning”.
Creating a positive and consistent customer experience is one of the biggest challenges facing dealership businesses today, and the customer’s voice is core to meeting this challenge to create competitive advantage.
When it comes to customer relationships, silence is not a viable solution. Encourage and welcome your customers to express their feedback (good or bad), and look at them as an opportunity to improve your business, not as a threat. Customer care is paramount; a feedback handled well leads to loyalty and lifetime retention.

This article has been written exclusively for AUTOMARK an international automotive magazine by Mohammad Shahzad S.A.E., D.M.P (Automotive Engineer/Doctor of Motors) Toronto, Canada

During a recent media event in Brussels, Toyota Europe outlined a plan for a 100% CO2 reduction in all-new vehicle sales in the market by 2035. This “goal” will be preceded by a sales mix of at least 50% zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) in Western Europe by 2030. On a broader scale, Toyota Motor Corporation continues to dig in its heels as one of the few major automakers that has yet to set an expiry for gasoline vehicle production.

Toyota is a name that needs no introduction. As one of the largest automakers on the planet with over 84 years of experience, the company has been around longer than most of Earth’s current population. An automotive elder, if you will.

By delivering models like the Corolla, Camry, and Supra, Toyota has long been established as a best-seller around the world, pushing automotive innovation with other vehicles like the RAV4 and Tundra.

Given its history of developing new autos, it’s no wonder that Toyota was an early promoter of electric vehicles, with its famed Prius. What is a wonder however, is why Toyota mostly abandoned carbon-friendlier vehicles since the Prius.

While Toyota remains a global best-seller of ICE vehicles, its EV report card remains abysmal, with plenty of “see me” notes from Mother Earth regarding its behavior. There’s almost too much evidence to choose from, so here’s a quick recap of some of its more newsworthy movements:

How Toyota sneakily spreads anti-EV propaganda in Japan
Toyota is facing boycotts over its fight to slow electric vehicle progress
Toyota is investing over $13 billion in EV batteries while lobbying to slow everyone else
Toyota delusionally claims hybrids and fuel cells will stay competitive with electric cars for next 30 years
It’s not all bad, though. The brilliant minds behind the Yaris have in fact changed their tune (at least publicly) with their approach to EVs. This past October, Toyota unveiled its bZ4X as its first EV to arrive on its new dedicated platform, available for the global market (they previously manufactured some EVs for China, apart from some limited EV runs here and there).

In recent news, Toyota has also partnered with Chinese automaker BYD to build a $30,000 electric vehicle, but it’s not currently clear whether markets outside of China will see it. One of those potential markets is Europe, in which Toyota has now committed to implementing EVs… so it can remain authorized to sell cars there.

Master Changan Motors, the auto brand of choice for more and more Pakistanis, is proud to announce it will soon be entering the country’s much-heated SUV segment, revealing official sketches of the incredibly sleek and aggressively designed SUV.

Since debuting the Changan Alsvin Sedan in late 2020, Master Changan has fast grown to become one of Pakistan’s most popular automotive brands,constantly enticing consumers with innovative and cutting edge auto technology. Earlier this year, the company unveiled its “Future Forward Forever” positioning, demonstrating its commitment to this by testing Changan’s Level-3 autonomous driving technologies on Pakistani roads – a first for any automaker in the country.

Now, the company has revealed, it is planning to introduce Pakistani auto consumers to a brand-new option in the SUV segment. Commenting on the company’s upcoming segue into the SUV segment, Danial Malik, CEO Master Changan says, “As with everything else, we are entering the SUV segment with a ‘Future Forward Forever’ attitude and look forward to disrupting it for the better and bringing Pakistan’s SUV consumers into the future.”

While the company has not revealed features, price, or launch timelines – mentioning only the new SUV will debut “Very soon!” – it has released initial sketches of the upcoming SUV, and claims that the upcoming SUV launch will be the first-ever ‘global launch’ for any vehicle in Pakistan. What that means is that Pakistan will be the first country to launch this new Changan SUV outside China as a global launch and the vehicle will be supplied to other RHD markets from Pakistan.

Elaborating on this, Mr Malik says, “Despite spending millions of rupees, Pakistani consumers more often than not continue to lack access to the automotive design and technology available in other countries. Historically, Pakistanis get access to new models significantly later than other markets;the recent spate of ‘new’ and expensive SUVs are either at the end of their model life or have already been replaced globally with newer models. As such, we are proud to announce that Changan will be releasing this new SUV to Pakistani consumers first.”

The sketches show an SUV with streamlined contours, combining classic auto design with a high-tech, futuristic twist. With an elevated front and rear, the form brings to mind an authoritative urban SUV from the future. Wide and protruded wheel arches give a bulky and powerful stance to the SUV, adding a broad and sporty presence. The front grill seems to have a sophisticated diamond pattern with sharp corners, and a two-tier front headlamp setup can also be seen, similar to other Changan vehicles such as the UNI-T.

• Press Release