Relaunching Revo - Pakistan's first Car

[jarves]

Which engine it uses??

 

[TheJewverine]

Would a common person in Israel consider purchasing this if it were available on the roads there? Or would it fail like the Israeli attempts you mentioned, for similar reasons?

(Tata Vista Tech, ~

6 lac or USD 10,000)

Or this?

(Tata Aria, ~

10 lac or $US 16,000)

Quite honestly, I think they would both fail here. Cars are as much an appliance as they are a status symbol/emotional object. Those Tata's are cheap, but not cheap enough to offset their negatives aspects.

.02

 

[qamar1990]

Maker of Revo talks about its re-launch – The Express Tribune

KARACHI: When the country’s premier expressed a desire for a ‘made in Pakistan’ vehicle at the recently-held auto show in Lahore, he had probably forgotten about Adam Revo — Pakistan’s first locally produced car that made an entry nine years ago.

Among the attentive audience was Feroz Khan, the maker of Revo, who was astonished at the silence of the industry giants present at the Lahore Expo Centre where Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made the remark.

“I felt hurt when none of my life-long friends stood up and informed the prime minister that Pakistan had already succeeded in producing a local car in 2005,” Khan told The Express Tribune in an interview. “Add to this the maker of that car was sitting right before him in the audience.”

Adam Motors, the makers of Revo, launched the car on April 18, 2005 with high hopes. However, the company sold just 600 units before it broke down owing to a lack of working capital. Former prime minister Shaukat Aziz inaugurated Revo’s plant in 2003, located a few kilometres from Karachi, owing to which most units were sold in the city.

According to Khan, Aziz promised him to buy his car for the government as it was the cheapest in the country. The government could have easily bought 5,000-10,000 cars a year but it never fulfilled its promise and that, according to Khan, was one of the major reasons why the project collapsed.

When launched, Revo’s price was Rs269,000 — cheaper by Rs46,000 when compared to the more popular choice of Suzuki Mehran.

Asked whether he could re-launch Revo, Khan reluctantly said that it could “within 15 months after studying the current needs of the industry”.

Khan’s reluctance to take another risk is understandable. He still owes Rs230 million despite paying a large part of the Rs1-billion debt he accumulated in launching Revo.

If Adam Motor re-launches Revo, then its price would be around Rs600,000 owing to the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee since 2005, Khan said.

The current price of Suzuki Mehran is Rs686,000.

“This is a better time to produce a local car as prices have gone up way too high owing to the expensive imported parts,” said Khan. “But I must say that I am fearful in re-launching Revo because of this country’s politics.”

Despite difficulty in procuring its spare parts, one can still find Revo on roads after all this time.

Those who still use the car say some of the attractive characteristics of Revo are its strong body and spacious interior.

Khan believes Pakistan can achieve more milestones in the future because of the position where its auto industry stands today. However, for that to happen, the local industry needs to work hard especially if it wants to prepare itself for regional competition.

Trade with India

The Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA) and Pakistan Association of Automotive Parts and Accessories Manufacturers (Paapam) needs to work collaboratively if they want to prepare themselves for trade with India, otherwise both would face difficulties, said Khan.

Pakistan’s auto industry also needs to study non-tariff barriers (NTBs) in India and then apply the same if they fail in exporting their parts to India because of them, he added.

“Pakistan can export auto parts to India but then it needs to upgrade its standards such as environment, pollution, vehicle inspection etc,” he stressed.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2014.

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I had no idea that Pakistan had already produced her own car! I wish he goes forth and I hope we buy it. @Aeronaut @Armstrong @Hyperion @Marshmallow @Secur @Azlan Haider @Slav Defence

if he does launch i will buy it just to support our industry

 

[jarves]

if he does launch i will buy it just to support our industry

I think the company did a mistake,probaly they should have done a JV with somenone first,What do you think??

 

[Developereo]

How much of the car is actually indigenous, and how much is just assembling imported parts?

If all they are doing is assembling imported parts, then might as well build a Toyota factory in Pakistan and buy that instead.

 

[jarves]

How much of the car is actually indigenous, and how much is just assembling imported parts?

If all they are doing is assembling imported parts, then might as well build a Toyota factory in Pakistan and buy that instead.

By indigenous here means the design was indigenous.,The company went bankrupt so how they are going to launch the car again??

 

[Developereo]

True, but the Suzuki is a reliable tested vehicle. Israel had a company that tried making a car way back when, and it too was a failure. People say that they will support a home made vehicle, but at the end of the day, they want something that performs well, looks good, is safe, is reliable, and is competitively priced. Companies that have little/no experience making cars and attempt to accomplish this usually end up as failures (in any market, from basic cars to exotics)

Few people would risk their family's safety just to be patriotic. The product needs to be competitive (at its price point) on its own merits.

 

[TimeToScoot]

How much of the car is actually indigenous, and how much is just assembling imported parts?

If all they are doing is assembling imported parts, then might as well build a Toyota factory in Pakistan and buy that instead.

Rome was not built in a day my dear friend. You have to start at the ground level and work your way up. Building a Toyota factory will do no good to Pakistan's science and technology base which is currently pretty negligible already.

 

[Developereo]

By indigenous here means the design was indigenous.,The company went bankrupt so how they are going to launch the car again??

Well, since the engine and drive-train were imported, the design would be limited to the body and interior.

As others have mentioned, it would have been better to do a JV with a known brand to address people's concerns about reliability.

Would I buy a Pakistani car with a Japanese engine and drive-train? Probably (if the Pakistani company had established a decent reputation for customer service).

Would I buy a Pakistani car with unknown components? Not for ten or twenty years until they had established a reputation for reliability.

Rome was not built in a day my dear friend. You have to start at the ground level and work your way up. Building a Toyota factory will do no good to Pakistan's science and technology base which is currently pretty negligible already.

What I wrote above.