Dear readers, especially those waiting eagerly for the new edition of AutoMark and looking forward to my next article, your responses always motivate me. I write with one thing in mind: the perspective of the Pakistani user.
This time, the thought occupying my mind for days has been simple yet unsettling: How lucky China is, and how unfortunate we appear in comparison. Our oldest friend and closest neighbour continues to build success story after success story, while we merely observe from the sidelines. But none of this is China’s fault. They recognized opportunity, seized it, and extracted maximum advantage from it.
Why do I call China “lucky”? Because they received an almost-ready fruit. All they needed was to clean the apple, slice it, and enjoy it. The foundational work, the invention, experimentation, and evolution, had already been done.
The Germans invented the automobile. The Americans engineered rugged off-road machines for wartime. The British infused motoring with luxury. Then came the Japanese, who revolutionized efficiency and compactness, building durable, fuel-efficient cars that still offered comfort where needed. France, Italy, Sweden, and South Korea also contributed distinct strengths.
Mercedes defined luxury. BMW set the benchmark for performance engines. Ford built unstoppable machines. Volvo mastered safety. Range Rover brought unmatched presence. Toyota and Volkswagen dominated with durability and volume. Ferrari and Lamborghini symbolized speed and style.
And then came China, blessed with access to all these perfected recipes. The dishes had already been cooked by others, the Chinese only needed to garnish them, refine their presentation, and select colours appealing to the global palate. They executed this brilliantly.
The results speak for themselves: a compact Chinese SUV outselling its Japanese rival by a wide margin. China did not need to start from 1886, like the Germans, nor design their first 4×4 eighty years ago like the Americans, nor invent compact efficiency like the Japanese. The homework was completed by others. Germany provided the handbook for engineering excellence, America for power, Japan for efficiency. China studied all three, and then built its own library.
Yet this does not take away from China’s achievements. Their own innovations today are remarkable. Consider news of the BYD Yangwang U9 track edition breaking a record previously held by Bugatti, or Chinese brands challenging the world’s top luxury automakers. In many markets, BYD has even overtaken Tesla.
But there is a caveat: when your foundation rests on the hard work of others, certain weaknesses emerge at extremes. A recent example was a Chinese automaker’s failed attempt to break Range Rover’s record of climbing 999 steep steps, a stunt that ended in a dramatic crash.
Still, China has progressed. Pakistan, unfortunately, has not. Despite 80 years of independence, and despite selling German, Japanese, Korean, and now Chinese cars in our market, we have yet to produce even a 500cc car of our own. Not a single truly Pakistani electric vehicle exists. We do not even manufacture our own 50cc motorcycle. Our automotive industry is a global anomaly: crowded with brands, yet none belonging to Pakistan.
Where China and India developed industries built on their own products, Pakistan remains a base for assembling and selling vehicles developed by others. In simple terms, we are working for the world, but the world is not working for us.
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This exclusive article has been published in Automark’s December-2025 printed and digital edition. Written by Zahid Malik