Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) has declared that its motorbike plant will be closed till the 28th of April. This decision was made in response to continued import restrictions that have harmed the auto industry, resulting in a shortage of inventories.
“Due to a lack of stock… the company’s management has decided to extend the shutdown period of its motorcycle plant until April 28, 2023,” a notice to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) stated.
Import restrictions bite: Pak Suzuki extends automobile plant shutdown
PSMC had already shut down its motorbike manufacturing earlier this month, from April 4 to April 15, due to a scarcity of raw supplies. Meanwhile, car manufacturing was closed from April 7 to April 14.
Suzuki vehicles, pickups, vans, 4x4s, motorcycles, and related spare parts are assembled, manufactured, and marketed by PMSC. The Suzuki brand originated in Japan.
Pakistan’s auto industry is now facing a number of challenges. Due to economic challenges, other publicly traded enterprises, like Indus Motor Company Limited and Honda Atlas Cars, have had to suspend manufacturing in recent months.
Previously, Honda Atlas Cars Pakistan had to extend its manufacturing outage by another 15 days. Other automakers, like Indus Motor Company Limited, have declared temporary production shutdowns.
According to the most recent figures from the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA), Pakistan’s auto sector reported car sales of 9,211 units in March, which is 66% lower than the number in March 2022.
According to JS Research analyst Wasil Zaman, “with foreign exchange reserves at critically low levels leaving little room for improvement on the supply side for auto manufacturers, we expect cumulative volume decline during the fiscal year 2023 to clock in at more than 50% year on year, which will extend to the first half of the fiscal year 2024.”
