Alto 660 prices jump by up to Rs85,000

Price hike to make up for falling revenue; Pak Suzuki also raises bike prices

KARACHI: Taking advantage of high sales, Pak Suzuki Motor Company has raised prices of its Alto 660 model by up to Rs85,000 to compensate for its dwindling revenue.

The company has increased the price of Alto VXR from Rs1.238 million to Rs1.308 million while the price of Alto AGS has been hiked from Rs1.433 million to Rs1.518 million.

“The company has compensated its negative books by increasing the price of its Alto model which is selling the most,” said Sabir Shaikh, an auto dealer in the Saddar market.

“There is a demand for small engine cars,” he added. Initially, Alto 660 VX cost Rs999,000, which currently stands at Rs1.135 million.

Pakistan’s auto market is facing an acute slump. Of the three Japanese carmakers - Indus Motor, Honda Atlas and Pak Suzuki - the Alto 660 producer posted a loss while the other two recorded lower profits.

Apart from cars, Pak Suzuki Motor has also raised prices of its high-end bikes. It increased the price of GD 110S from Rs166,000 to Rs168,000. On the other hand, GS 150 had a new price tag of Rs178,000, which was up from Rs175,000.

The price of GS 150 SE went up from Rs191,000 to Rs194,000 and that of GR 150 jumped from Rs259,000 to Rs265,000. The new prices came into effect from October 1.

As far as Suzuki bikes were concerned, they were high-end bikes and many small-engine users were now switching to these bikes after experiencing Chinese 70cc engines and their low quality, Shaikh remarked.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 2^nd, 2019.

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