FAW Carrier
Daehan Dewan Motor Company,
Pakistan, a year back, introduced a lucrative auto policy that resulted in investment announcements from some of the biggest brands in the world, including giants like Renault, Volkswagen, and many others. The policy not only ensured incentives for newcomers but has also motivated Dewan Group to get back into the auto sector.
Muhammad Saleem Baig, CEO of
Daehan Dewan Motor Company, in an exclusive interview with ProPakistani, shared the story of ups and downs of Dewan Group and how it plans to re-conquer Pakistani market with its experience, local network, and proven quality.
From the Old Times
Saleem BaigFor those who don’t know, Yousaf Dewan Group of Companies stepped into automobile industry back in 1998/1999 as a result of an agreement with Hyundai and Kia. In fact, YDC was the reason that Hyundai and Kia vehicles became a local success.
The company, later on, introduced the well-known Hyundai made Shehzore truck, which became an instant success.
Saleem Baig told me that company sold over 50,000 Shehzore trucks, a number that has still not been surpassed by any truck maker in the country.
At the time, Shehzore held a market share of 80% in one tonne pickup category 20% market share in 1 liter hatchback category. This accounted for an overall 10% market share in auto sector at that time.
However, in 2010, Hyundai decided to halt its operations in 18 countries throughout the world — including Pakistan — due to a shift in the company’s business dynamics. The move isolated Dewan Group and it went into incognito mode while it searched for its next partner.
Saleem Baig mentioned that apart from Kia and Hyundai, YDC also brought BMW to Pakistan and has already signed a distribution agreement with Scania, company based out of Sweden, for manufacturing buses and trucks in Pakistan.
Plan to move forward
After Hyundai left the Pakistani market, Dewan Motors was left with just a few leftover kits for Shehzore vehicles. This is when the company started to look around for sourcing the rest of the parts. The company had many proposals from several Chinese automakers which were considered for evaluation.
Saleem Baig said that they tested a few Chinese models of Shehzore but their performance was below par. Shehzore gave an engine performance that lasted 300,000 kilometers, however, the Chinese models only went as far as 50,000 km which wasn’t acceptable for Dewan Motors.
Dewan recognized itself as the provider of a quality product with good after-sale value and spare parts that were readily and cheaply available. The CEO added that Dewan Motors stuck to its vision of providing quality products so instead of going to Chinese manufacturers out of desperation, they waited for better options.
On the company’s vision to reclaim the market in a nutshell, the CEO said;
The quality and after sale service is very important for us. Giving the quality product in the market is very critical.
The company will also enter the passenger cars market in the near future by bringing SsangYong to Pakistan, keep reading to know more details on this.
Joint Venture Between Dewan and Daehan
It is apparent that Korea has established an identity as a provider of good machines, be it the electronics or mechanical systems. In fact, many consider Korean products to be of same quality as those of Japan. So, Dewan went to Korea to look for quality products.
They were directed to meet with the Kolao Group of KR Motors. The Kolao Group also owns the Daehan brand. The company has a 1-ton pickup, 2.5-ton pickup in the making and another double-cabin pickup in market circulation.
This is where the Dewans leaned that Kolao Group had already invested $10-$15 million on a new 7% bigger model of Shehzore like trucks.
SaleemBaig highlighted that Shehzore was built around the Korean power train technology including the all important rear axle, that looked even better than the original Shehzore that Dewan group sold over 10 years ago.
Dewan Motors was quick to pitch their plan. With Kolao group’s tech and Dewan’s network of dealers, market share, and a state-of-the-art assembly plant in Pakistan, both the companies had the perfect chance to form a joint-venture with 50-50 ownership to give birth to a new company called Daehan Dewan Motor Company.
Re-birth of shehzore
With the deal locked with Kolao group, the Dewan group invested several million dollars to revive its assembly plant in Pakistan; that enabled the company to start assembling Shehzore trucks in the country again.
The investment from Dewan includes progressive localization of the vehicle in Pakistan. The first Shehzore produced had a localization of around 20%.
Dewan also holds the vision to localize the manufacturing to create more employment opportunities in the process.
Local Assembly plan
Dewan Motors has an established plant in Sindh with over 500 employees.
The company’s CEO told us that it is a technologically advanced plant with four robots that paint the vehicles. He added that these robots were brought from Germany in 2000 and even after 18 years there is no other company in Pakistan that has robots at their plants.
Talking about the capacity, he added that a total of 20,000 units can be assembled per annum at the plant. The capacity will be increased once SsangYong vehicles are introduced and localized in Pakistan.
He further added that Daehan Dewan is looking to sell 5,000-6,000 units of Shehzore in the first year