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According to media reports, Punjab government increased the fare of Lahore Metro Bus Service by Rs. 10. The decision was reportedly taken after approval of the provincial cabinet, led by the Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.

As per sources, Punjab Finance and Transport Departments had recommended an increase of Rs. 20 per head.

However, the Punjab government has rejected all such reports stating that Punjab Metro Bus fares are still the same as before and there has been no increase in the fares so far.

CM Buzdar was told that the transport service requires an annual subsidy of Rs. 12.30 billion on current rates and if the fare is fixed at Rs. 50/head, it will reduce to Rs. 10.5 billion.

The CM was also informed that the motorcycle rickshaws and wagons on the same route charge Rs. 40 to Rs. 50 per passenger.

However, the chief minister decided not to pass on the burden to the masses.

Source: ProPakistani

Former chairman of Pakistan Association of Auto Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (PAAPAM) Mumshad Ali Tuesday gave an SOS call to the government to save the dying tractor industry.

He told the media here that the government should take notice of crisis-like situation prevailing in the tractor industry and take steps to save it from complete collapse. He said that tractor sales are expected to witness low sales in a decade as economic downturn and poor agri income had hit the industry hard forcing the tractor plants in the country to close down operations in Dec 2019 and a similar situation had also been witnessed in year 2018 as well.

Mumshad Ali said that industry was currently operating at below 50 per cent of its production capacity which means 50 per cent less employment and 50 per cent less tax revenues.

He claimed that 200 plus SMEs (small and medium enterprises) engineering units manufacturing parts for the two main tractor assemblers of the country i.e. Millat Tractors Limited and Al-Ghazi Tractors Limited, were affected severely. This sector forms the backbone of the country’s engineering industry, and was located around Lahore region and its neighboring towns and cities, he added.

Mumshad Ali said that these 200 vending units producing 1000s of parts for the tractor assemblers were family owned SMEs employing thousands of skilled workers operators and engineers. Over 90 per cent of the parts that fixed into a tractor were locally produced and these tractors had found markets around the world.

Currently all the specialised tractor parts manufacturing units were closed down and many skilled workers were sent home with more redundancies to follow. As the tractor plants shut down, these parts manufacturers had not been paid for over two months now and were facing severe liquidity crunch, wile many of them were struggling to meet their bank and suppliers’ liabilities.

The former PAAPAM chairman mentioned that tractors’ demand started to drop in August following poor crop yields of cotton and rice, which were super imposed on the overall country’s economic environment and the slow down of the CPEC projects. He said that this industry had been marred by such down turns over the last two decades as government support played a key role in its growth. Tractor loans and subsidies increased tractor sales while taxes, poor crop yields and low commodity prices affected it negatively.

He suggested the government as short-term measures to release Sales Tax (ST) refunds and funds to ZTBL (Zarai Taraqiyati Bank Limited) to finance tractors at single digit mark up rates. While, in the long-term, construction and development activity needed to restart so that tractor demands in non-agri sector rises. Pakistan’s trade missions should also get active in marketing this product in the world agri markets.

He feared that if immediate corrective steps were not taken many of the part manufacturing units might not be able to restart their operations because of bank defaults and losses due to repeated and prolonged industry closures.

Courtesy: UrduPoint

Millat Tractors Limited (MTL) has announced that they will be halting their production for another seventeen days. This has brought the shutdown time to be 29 days in total also including the previous shutdown. The company had stopped its production operations from Dec 11^th, 2019  to Jan 3^rd, 2020.

The notification says that the operation will restart from the 20^th of January 2020. However, the notice to Pakistan Stock Exchange does not mention the reason for extension in the shutdown time. 

MTL suffered a 48 percent fall in sales to 8,223 units during the July-November period in 2019. The persistent decline in demand for farm machinery and lack of orders from growers are the main reasons behind the shutdown, he said, adding that December 2019 sales were around 1,000 units.

The reason behind the falling sales by the MTL official is said to be the low crop growth. The farmers are unable to afford the loans which have a 17-18pc interest rate. Hence the growth has been low.

The other sector namely the construction sector, uses the tractors have also been facing a slowdown because of which the tractor sales have been hit there as well.

Also, rising dollar prices have caused an increase in price further bringing down affordability.

The year 2019 has been challenging for the automobile industry and hopefully, the next one will be better owing to the new ventures that will be entering the market.

Toyota Indus Motor Company (IMC) launched a new variant of its compact SUV Fortuner named ‘Fortuner G 2.7-litre’ on January 1^st of 2020.

The Japanese auto manufacturer welcomed the New Year with a new version of Fortuner in the local market. It is said to be equipped with a 2.7-liter engine mated to a 6-speed sequential transmission with paddle shifters. The price of Fortuner G is PKR 7,299,000, which is comparatively less than the existing two variants available in the market. Currently, Fortuner is available in two variants as follows:

• Fortuner 2.7 VVTi (Petrol) PKR 7,999,000/-
• Fortuner 2.8 Sigma 4 (Diesel) PKR 8,649,000/-

However, the prices above are ex-factory prices. Both these versions of Fortuner are offered with automatic transmission. On the other hand, Fortuner G is labeled as an ‘Urban Icon’ by Toyota Indus.

There are many different features in this car that include:

• Smart-Entry with Push Start
• Dual Air-conditioner (Front & Rear)
• Cruise Control
• 3^rd Row Seats
• Safety Airbags
• 6-Speed Sequential Transmission with Paddle Shifters

Fortuner G could be regarded as a basic version of Fortuner as it has fewer features and a lower price as compared to the existing ones. It is also equipped with several features that differ from the existing 2.7-litre VVTi variant of Fortuner. The seat material and door trim of Fortuner G is available in Premium Brown Fabric, whereas it comes in leather seating in the existing 2.7-liter variant of Fortuner. Similarly, it also has manual seat adjustment for the driver and passenger at the front. In 2.7 VVTi, the driver’s seat adjustment is powered. The headlamps and fog lamps of Fortuner G have halogen lamps, whereas the 2.7 VVTi has LED headlamps. Fortuner G has no auto-leveling feature in its headlamps, which was present in the existing one. Lastly, it has 17-inch alloy rims instead of 18-inch, which are available in 2.7 VVTi

To round up, the new Fortuner will certainly rule the hearts of many as the car is a beauty on its own.

Hyundai Nishat Motor (Private) Limited (‘The Company’) has recently collaborated with the country’s 3 leading commercial banks to provide flexible and affordable vehicle financing / Ijarah solutions to its customers of commercial category.

MCB Bank, Bank of Punjab and Meezan Bank have set forth a platform for both individual and fleet customers of Hyundai to meet their financing needs on preferential terms. The said facilities and their details are now available at the branches of these three banks in all major cities of the country.

The offer is available on Hyundai Porter H-100 Pickup and Hyundai Grand Starex MPV. The aim of the partnership is to bring the best mark-up / profit rates to their mutual customers with flexible repayment options. The Company has also arranged lowest possible insurance rates from leading insurance companies in the market which collectively makes up an ideal solution for potential buyers of Hyundai.

The vehicles are available Ex-stock nationwide having industry best Warranty terms of 4 years and/or 100,000KM.

Booking campaign on introductory price for Hyundai Porter H-100 Pick-up has already started nationwide from the Company’s dealer network since Dec 02, 2019 and deliveries are due to begin from January, 2020.

Courtesy: Techginnie

A multinational electric company known as MVM Group has signed a memorandum with Zhengzhou Yutong Bus Co., LTD for the manufacturing of electric buses for the Pakistani auto sector. This initiative occurred under the umbrella of CPEC arrangement and is known to bring economic stability in the country.

The official ceremony of the project launch will be held in February of 2020. During the ceremony, Yutong will conduct a trial run of the electric buses before making available for the general public. The aim of launching electric transportation is to revolutionize the Pakistan Public Transportation into sustainable with the zero-emissions system. The first step is to accumulate electric buses into the metro system and then disperse them to intercity transportation. With the launch of electric vehicles, the country will also face financial stability and the fares of transportation will decrease for the general public.

In the month of November, the Prime Minister has signed a National Electric Vehicle Policy in order to control the raising concerns of environmental pollution. The policy will be operational from January 2020.

MVM Group is an electric power generating company that is situated in Hungary. It is the largest electrical manufacturing company in the country and is responsible for large scale distribution, sale, and production of electricity.

Yutong is situated in China and is formally known for manufacturing large scale commercial level vehicles. In particular, the buses by Yutong are the most famous all over the subcontinent. According to a 2016 sales report the company was considered as the world’s biggest bus manufacturer in sales volume. Yutong is famous worldwide for its coaches, intercity buses and city buses.

Courtesy: TechJuice.com

Suzuki will introduce a new 48v mild-hybrid powertrain to the Swift Sport, Vitara and S-Cross early next year.

The engine will offer up to 20% lower CO2 emissions, a greater level of torque and a 15% overall improvement in fuel consumption. It will directly replace the current 1.4-litre Boosterjet.

Similar in basic principle to the 12v hybrid SHVS (Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki), the newly developed 48v hybrid powertrain remains lightweight in design and the components add less than 15kg to the overall weight of the vehicle.

A 48v lithium-ion battery, Integrated Starter Generator (known as ISG) and 48v-12v (DC/DC) converter is used to power components requiring lower voltage including lights, audio and air conditioning. The ISG acts as both a generator and starter motor, is belt driven and assists the petrol engine during vehicle take off for a higher level of torque with 235Nm available from 2,000rpm.

The battery stores electrical energy recovered from deceleration and braking and incorporates an idle stop function operated via the Integrated Starter Generator. This battery, along with the DC/DC convertor unit, are located under the front seats to assist overall weight distribution.

A further benefit of the new 48v hybrid system is the introduction of electric motor idling when the clutch is disengaged and the engine speed is approximately 1,000rpm. This feature essentially replaces fuel injection with power from the electric motor to then control and maintain engine idling at vehicle speeds below 10mph and when stationary.

This function therefore eliminates fuel consumption under these conditions as engine momentum is electrically controlled by the ISG unit and the car is ready to re-accelerate on request with no engine restart delay.

Further detail and full specifications of the three new Hybrid models will be announced in the new year. The new vehicles will be launched in March.

Courtesy: FleetNews