Islamabad, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Indus Motor Company (IMC), Ali Asghar Jamali, has emphasized the importance of raising taxes on used imported cars to bolster the local auto industry.
Jamali, representing the manufacturer of Toyota cars, held meetings with the Federal Minister for Finance, Industries, and the Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to present proposals for the upcoming budget. He stated that an increase in duties and taxes on used cars has been recommended in the upcoming budget to support the local auto industry, benefiting from a slightly improved economic activity, stable currency, and a potential cut in interest rates.
According to Jamali, the industry had anticipated a significant improvement in demand for local cars from January 2024. However, this expectation was not met due to the import of used cars. He noted that there was only a marginal improvement of about 28 percent in the sale of local cars. Conversely, the imports of used cars saw a staggering increase of over 711 percent in February alone compared to the same period last year. He warned that if this trend persisted, the vendors’ industry would be at risk of closure.
Highlighting the contributions of the local auto industry, Jamali mentioned that it had invested approximately $2.5 billion and contributed around Rs400 billion in taxes in FY2022 alone. Additionally, the auto industry provided about 2.5 million direct and indirect job opportunities. He also expressed satisfaction with the first-quarter performance of the newly launched hybrid electric vehicle, the Toyota Corolla Cross. Notably, the Toyota Corolla Cross boasts the highest percentage of localized parts in its category, exceeding 50 percent.
Jamali emphasized that the acceptance of the auto industry’s proposals would help increase FBR revenue by Rs80 billion
