Proton Delivers X70 to Pakistan Government
During his visit to Pakistan in March this year, Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad gifted the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, a unit of the Proton X70. The SUV has now been officially delivered to the government of Pakistan.
While the first unit is earmarked for Imran Khan, it will not be the only X70 in Pakistan. Work is underway at a Greenfield site in Karachi to build a new CKD assembly plant that will be owned and operated by ALHAJ Automotive, the official distributor for Proton vehicles in Pakistan.
Production activities are currently scheduled to begin in 2021 with plans being formulated for the assembly of several models in the country.
By building an assembly plant in Pakistan with ALHAJ Automotive, Proton hopes to take advantage of reduced duties for CKD vehicles in the country. Its long-term goal is to sell 400,000 vehicles by 2027.
The new CKD assembly plant in Karachi will be built with an initial investment of USD30 million (RM124 million) and will create 2,000 direct employment opportunities in its first three years of operations. It is estimated that a further 20,000 indirect jobs will also be created as a result of the new plant being commissioned.
Mohd Khalid Yusof, Director of Investment and Promotion, Proton said, “Proton sees a lot of potential in Pakistan and as Malaysia is the only Muslim country to have its own automotive brand, both our countries are natural partners who have so much to share with each other. The Proton X70 has won several awards at home and we hope that eventually, it can accomplish the same feats when it arrives here.”
“ALHAJ Automotive will leverage on its current dealerships located nationwide to start selling Proton vehicles as soon as possible while we develop standalone 3S/4S outlets. We will source CBU units from Malaysia to kick things off in Pakistan before switching to locally assembled units once the new assembly plant begins operations,” said Al-Haj Shah Jee Gul Afridi.
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