Introduction
In the history of Automotive industry in Pakistan, we have seen many cars that didn’t meet the expectations of consumers and failed for various reasons for example, no after sales services, not budget friendly, local automotive partners committing fraud, Government created hurdles, and so on.
In the 80s and 90s, Consumers had many options in choosing a car from locally assembled to imported, but when big 3 giants, Suzuki, Honda, and Toyota entered our local market, the options were limited and they ruled for many years. However in some previous years, new Automotive companies like KIA, and Hyundai re-entered our market to take their market share and somehow, they made the place. In this blog, we will go through those cars and why they became flop cars in Pakistan.
1. Nissan Sunny
In the era of 70s and 80s, Nissan Sunny was the most popular car in Pakistan. Infact, it was also assembled locally in Pakistan. It was available in both manual and automatic transmission. Initial models of Nissan Sunny B11, B12, and B13 were available in 1.0L engine option, and then B14 was available in EFi 1.4L engine option. It was a time when there was no restriction on importing cars from the Government. Later on, in early 90s, Government started enforcing bans on imported vehicles to support our local automotive industry to make their presence strong as firstly, Pak Suzuki’s Bin Qasim plant came into being in 1991 and then Honda and Toyota inaugurated their plants in Pakistan.
Ghandhara Nissan made an attempt to enter the market with the locally produced B14 Nissan Sunny, but it was unable to compete its competitors. Apart from the 7th Toyota Corolla Generation, the B14 Sunny was the only locally assembled car with a diesel engine option. Nonetheless, Ghandhara was unable to meet the success criteria. When Ghandara Nissan saw the failure of Nissan Sunny B14, they took another chance by introducing Nissan Sunny N16 in Pakistan as an import initially in 2005-08, and then they started it’s local assembling between 2009-2010 but unfortunately, they hardly managed to sell its only 1000 units and then was discontinued after a huge upset.
So, the prominent reason behind the failure of Nissan Sunny is its low resale value as compared to Honda and Toyota from the same segment and weak suspension (Not survival for our local roads) as consumers reported.
2. KIA Spectra
Dewan Farooque Motors Limited (DFML) with KIA introduced KIA Spectra in 2000 in Pakistan and was available till 2005. It was available in 1.3L, 1.6L, and some limited in 1.8L engine options. Initially, in the early years, everything was going well but unfortunately, later on, people preferred other sedan options over KIA Spectra available at that time.
Since it was available in the CBU unit, the maintenance cost and spare parts were too expensive. Consumers also reported overheating issues in KIA Spectra. Furthermore, Spectra also had a braking issue due to its heavy weight chassis. Additionally, Bad fuel average also became the main reason for failure of this vehicle. Despite the facts, Dewan Motors managed to sell KIA Spectra’s 4,400+ units in its first two years (2000-2002) but in the last three years, they have barely sold 500+ units only and then it was discontinued immediately.
3. KIA Classic/KIA Pride
KIA Classic was the sedan version of KIA Pride, also known as Pride-B in global market. Pride was the first KIA car rolling on the roads of Pakistan in mid-90s under the name of Tawakkal Group but this group scammed consumers as they took thousands of Pride bookings and ran away with all the hard-earned money from consumers regardless of just providing small number of units to who booked in early time. This thing creates a bad impression in the hearts of our people for this car that it doesn’t get an overwhelming response in terms of after sales.
Later on in late 90s, Dewan Farooque Motors Limited (DFML) introduced KIA Classic in Pakistan, and it was available till 2006. In the initial years, KIA Classic performed well but gradually upset the local market due to other good options available in local market. According to some reports, KIA dealerships began charging excessive owned/premium amounts for their vehicles, turning the KIA Classic & Spectra into more of a corporate car than a family budget car.
4. Chevrolet Joy
Nexus Automobiles was the official dealer of Chevrolet vehicles in Pakistan. They introduced Chevrolet Joy in 2005. Firstly, they imported this vehicle in 800cc, and then later on started its local assembling equipped with 1000cc engine. At that time, It was introduced as the competitor of Suzuki Cultus, Hyundai Santro, and somehow Mehran but unfortunately, it was badly flopped due to poor after sales and services, and some government policies that hit the official dealers to sustain here that consumers preferred Suzuki Cultus and Hyundai Santro over Chevrolet Joy.
5. Mitsubishi Lancer
Mitsubishi Lancer remained the top notch car in the era of 80s. But from 2004 to 2010, Dewan Mushtaq Motors introduced the 8th Generation of Lancer in Pakistan which sold till 2010. At that time, it was the most successful car in Pakistan but when the dollar price started increasing, the price of Mitsubishi Lancer eventually sparked and became unrealistic for consumers since it was imported as a CBU unit. Then there were no proper spare parts available, no proper after sale and services, and people started less consider Lancer in their options.
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6. Suzuki Liana
After the discontinuation of Suzuki Baleno, Liana was introduced in 2005. Initially, it was imported as CBU units from Thailand and then later on, Pak Suzuki started its local assembling and halted its production in 2014. Suzuki Liana comes in three variants RXi, LXi, and Eminent which are equipped with a 1.6L engine and Automatic transmission while the RXi and LXi come with 1.3L and Manual transmission. During this tenure, Pak Suzuki also introduced a facelift of Liana back in 2009 with the label Suzuki Liana VURV, it has redesigned front chrome grills, new round disc shape backlights, and an optional DVD Player to get attention but this initiative also failed.
Suzuki Liana was ahead of its competitors in terms of features such as an ABS Braking System, Electronic Power Steering, and Immobilizer key. These features were not present at the time of Corolla Xli/Gli, City, and Civic but still, Suzuki Liana failed to grab the attention of consumers because people kept Suzuki in the budget of economical class since the parts of Liana were expensive with high maintenance cost.
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Another reason for failing Suzuki Liana is, that the car became the nightmare of our local mechanics especially for the mechanic who belongs to rural areas. They didn’t understand the engineering of this car well and started disgracing it. Between July and December of 2013–2014, the total production and sales of Suzuki Liana were less than 17,000 units only.
7. Suzuki Kizashi
“Kizashi” is a Japanese word that means ‘Sign of Good Things to Come’, but Suzuki Kizashi has become unfortunate globally. Suzuki itself acknowledged that this car was the ‘most unlucky car’ for Suzuki. In December 2014, production of Suzuki Kizashi was halted at Sagara plant (Japan) where the Kizashi was assembled. It was announced earlier in 2013 by Suzuki Officials that the car would be discontinued and no more generations would be launched anyway in future.
Let’s talk about the failure of this vehicle, the first and main reason is the car comes from “Suzuki” and around the globe, Suzuki is recognized as an ‘Economical Brand/Vehicle’. Consumers never saw the Suzuki as a luxurious brand as Kizashi was introduced to compete with Honda Accord and Toyota Camry class vehicles. The other reason is, that Kizashi was available only with one engine option which was 2.4L petrol, and its competitors i.e. Accord and Camry were available from 2.0L to 3.5L engine options having hybrid, petrol, and diesel variants.
And here Pak Suzuki comes! They launched this car after 2 years of global discontinuation of Kizashi. It was launched in 2015 with a price tag of PKR 5.0 million as CBU unit and discontinued within the same year due to poor sales and neglect from consumers. Suzuki Kizashi was introduced with both Manual and Automatic CVT transmission. Since the Sagara facility in Japan hasn’t produced Kizashi in more than a few years, it’s questionable whether the Kizashi being imported are the ones that were built but went unsold.
8. Suzuki Ciaz
Pak Suzuki launched Suzuki Ciaz in February 2017 equipped with a 1.4L K14B engine offered in both manual and automatic transmission. It was a move by Pak Suzuki to re-enter the sedan category after a bad experience with Suzuki Liana. However, Suzuki Ciaz failed to capture the hearts of consumers and was discontinued in 2020 due to poor sales. The total lifespan of Ciaz was only 3 years in Pakistan.
There are multiple reasons why Suzuki Ciaz failed in Pakistan despite performing well in other regions. Firstly, Suzuki missed out on prominent features in CKD unit for example, a multi-function steering wheel, Push start button, automatic climate control, reversing camera, parking sensors, retractable side glasses with a turn signal, and rear AC vents. Infact, Sunroof was offered in some variants of Ciaz internationally but Pak Suzuki also skipped it. Secondly, Pak Suzuki increase PKR 150,000 within a month of its launch. In the absence of above features, Suzuki Ciaz was considered an expensive car compared to the City and Corolla at that time.
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9. Suzuki Vitara
Ever heard the line“Aaye Teri Yad, Teray Janay k bad”? Yes, this sentence purely reflects the Suzuki Vitara in Pakistan. Vitara was launched in December 2016 as CKD (imported from Hungry) in two variants GL+ and GLX with a price of PKR 3.49 to 3.79 Million and was discontinued in 2018 due to low sales and worst marketing strategy this car didn’t make its place in the hearts of people because consumers never spend a hectic amount on the badge of Suzuki. This lack of interest kills the success of Vitara in Pakistan. It comes with a 1.6L 16-valve DOHC Engine. It is a crossover SUV and competes with Honda HR-V, Nissan Juke, KIA Sportage, and Hyundai Tucson. Today, people realize the worth of Suzuki Vitara those who understand are going for one used.
10. FAW V2
To compete with Suzuki Swift, Al-Hajj Faw Motors introduced Faw V2 in 2014 in Pakistan. It is equipped with a 1.3L DOHC naturally inspired four-cylinder engine having a 5-speed manual transmission. Unfortunately, FAW V2 has a lower build quality, and an unattractive look, and no automatic variant is available even after a decade of production in an assembly line. That’s why FAW V2 faces difficulties attracting buyers and its appearance in the local automotive industry. In this era of inflation, a brand new V2 was less expensive than numerous new cars in its category, currently costing around PKR Rs. 1.6 million.
11. United Bravo
United Bravo was launched in September 2018 when Pak Suzuki discontinued Suzuki Mehran in Pakistan. United takes it as a golden opportunity to gain an economical hatchback market in place of Suzuki Mehran. Initially, consumers take interest in this newly launched hatchback on an attractive price bracket of PKR 850,000 with good features like dual level speed o meter, power steering, power windows, alloy rims, and keyless entry that were missed in Suzuki Mehran.
Bravo was equipped with an 800cc 3-cylinder petrol engine with having 4-Speed manual transmission. However, due to Bravo’s cheap build quality, a limited number of dealerships, and poor customer and after sales services, United Bravo badly flopped in Pakistan. That’s why United Bravo has the worst resale value and the current owner has to struggle a lot to sell it.
12. Prince Pearl
Regal Automobiles Industries Limited was founded in 2017 as a technical collaboration between DFSK (Dong Feng Sokon), China’s largest and most reputable brand, and the RP Group, one of Pakistan’s most well-known commercial groups, to assemble and market Prince vehicles in Pakistan.
Regal Automobiles launched Princes Pearl in February 2020 with a price tag of PKR 10,49000/=. It has a 796cc Mehran’s replica engine with a 4-speed manual transmission. Prominent features in Pearl are power steering, power windows, climate control, and somehow an attractive design.
Basically, a budget-friendly car with main features was aimed to be introduced by the company, but this was not achieved because the build quality of the car was lowered to maintain its price. The parts of the car were fitted unprofessionally, and multiple gaps were present on the body. Thus, the car became unsatisfactory for the consumers, becoming one of Pakistan’s flop cars.
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13. Proton Saga
Proton a Malaysian automaker joined hands with local partner Al-Haj Automotive and entered into Pakistani market with the launch of the Proton X70 SUV in December 2020 and the Proton Saga sedan in April 2021. However, Al-Haj Automotive failed to deliver vehicles that booked them instantly. Infact, they increase prices of their vehicles by 112% from their introductory price without even delivering the vehicles.
Moreover, Al-Haj Automotive even failed to refund the payments of affected consumers who booked the vehicles even after full payment, according to customers, the cheques bounced due to insufficient money in their accounts. That is why, numerous dealerships canceled their agreements with Proton and separated. Even affected consumers requested Pakistan’s Former Prime Minister (PM) Anwar ul Haq Kakar, Chief Justice (CJ) Qazi Faiz Essa, and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Syed Asim Muneer to step in and take action against the company. Only a few Saga units are being delivered, and all of them are Ace variants.
Failure of scheduled deliveries, poor customer services, unfulfilled promises, and price hikes made the failure of Proton Saga in Pakistan. Even after more than three years in the marketplace, the Proton Saga remains a rare sight on local roads. It is still the cheapest sedan available in Pakistan, but given the company’s track record over the years, few people are willing to book a Proton car nowadays.
Final Thoughts
So these were the flop cars in Pakistan for different reasons. What we learned? We should also make decisions about buying a car other than resale value, build quality, and features. Other than these big 3 giants, we should also decide out of the box to buy a car. Drop your thoughts in the comments section, and be sure to identify cars that you believe did not keep their market position, as well as the reasons why.