Pakistanis will have a new auto brand this year

Malaysian Proton Exora Bold Credit: Aero 7/Wikipedia

Pakistanis will have the choice to buy a new brand of cars beginning summer this year.

The arrival of Malaysia’s top manufacturer of Proton signals foreign automobile company’s confidence in the South Asian country’s market with a growing middle class population.

Pakistani car owners have often complained of a lack of variety of brands in the country with Japanese companies manufacturing familiar brands since long.

To be built near Karachi, the Proton plant, is going to be the latest in a series of assembly units set up in Pakistan by international auto makers recently including Volkswagen AG and Hyundai Motors.

“We were told that the first Proton which will be assembled here will be on the roads next June in Pakistan,” Chairman Board of Investment  Haroon Sharif, says.

The vehicles will roll out June this year as a result of a joint venture with Pakistani firm, Al-Haj Automobiles.

The symbolic groundbreaking of the plant was performed by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan on Friday.

An agreement signing ceremony between Al-HAJ Automobiles and Proton was held in Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on 29 August last year. As per the agreement, Al-Haj Group will exclusively sell and assemble sedans, crossovers, SUVs, electric vehicles and hatchbacks of the Malaysian automaker in the country.

The partnership will bring around $200-$300 million investment in Pakistan. The company reportedly has purchased land in Karachi to build a manufacturing plant dedicated for Proton vehicles.

According to auto specifications, Proton Exora is a compact multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) which is available in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Brunei and Australia. It debuted on 15 April 2009 and since then it has received facelifts as well. The MPV is a front-wheel drive and has 7-seating capacity just like Honda BR-V. It comes in two different engines and three different transmission options. As far as the engine options are concerned, it ships with 1.6 L CamPro CPS DOHC I4 engine and 1.6 L CamPro CFE DOHC I4 Turbo.

Additionally, the vehicles come with a 5-speed manual, 4-speed auto and 6-speed CVT automatic. In the local market, its direct competitors are Honda BR-V and Toyota Rush.