Bike prices soar by up to Rs20,500

Sales diminishing in urban areas as people look for affordable alternatives

KARACHI:

Although Pakistani rupee has begun to show marginal improvement against the US dollar, two-wheel producers such as Atlas Honda, Pak Suzuki and Yamaha have hiked prices of their bikes by up to Rs20,500.

Honda CD-70 is now available at Rs116,500 after a hike of Rs21,600. Honda CD-70 Dream’s price was inflated by Rs23,000 to Rs124,500. Likewise, the price of Honda Pridor 100 has been increased by Rs25,400 to Rs155,900.

Similarly, the increase in the price of Honda CG 125 and Honda CG 125S Special Edition was Rs27,400 and Rs28,900 to Rs179,900 and Rs210,900 respectively. The company has also raised the price of Honda CB 125F by Rs55,400 to Rs273,900.

The Japanese company raised prices by Rs65,000 on its models Honda CB 150F (Red and Blue) to Rs338,900 and on Honda CB 150F (Silver) to Rs342,900.

Monday was the second consecutive day when the rupee showed signs of stabilisation against the dollar. On Thursday, the rupee was at an all-time low of Rs239.94 against the US dollar but recovered to reach Rs238.84 on Monday. The rupee recovered Rs0.53, or 0.22%, to reach Rs238.84 against the US dollar in the inter-bank market on Monday. In the open market, it regained six rupees to reach the mark of Rs242.

The Yamaha variant YB 125Z is now available for a price tag of Rs273,000 after an uptick of Rs18,000. The price of Yamaha YB 125Z DX will be Rs292,000 after a hike of Rs19,000.

Likewise, the company has inflated the price of Yamaha YBR 125 to Rs300,000 after an increase of Rs19,500.

Furthermore, the price tag of Yamaha YBR 125G (Black/Red) is now Rs312,500 and the price of Yamaha YBR 125G (Grey/Poteen) is now Rs315,500 after a jump of Rs20,500 for both models.

“We are witnessing a decline in bike sales,” said Association of Pakistan Motorcycle Assemblers (APMA) Chairman Sabir Shaikh. “Everybody seems to be taking a step downwards as four-wheeler commuters descend on high-end two-wheelers while the latter ones slope downwards to 70cc engines.”

In urban areas, “we are observing diminishing bike sales,” Shaikh observed.

With the worsening economic conditions and inflation at an all-time high, consumers were looking for alternatives to bring down their commute cost to an affordable level, said auto expert Mashood Ali Khan.

“The two-wheeler industry has always been the backbone of the lower middle class and the middle class.”

In a notice to authorised dealers, Pak Suzuki announced hike in prices by up to Rs16,000. The company had earlier communicated to its dealers to halt motorcycle booking.

The Japanese auto producer increased the price of its variant GD110S to Rs229,000 after a hike of Rs10,000. GS150 is now available at Rs251,000 after a jump of Rs12,000.

The new price of GS150SE is Rs271,000 after an uptick of Rs15,000 while the company increased the price of GR150 by Rs16,000 to Rs365,000.

“Currently, we are manufacturing more than 1.5 million units annually,” said Mashood Ali Khan. With the increase in petrol prices and rise in motorcycle prices, the bike industry would have to bring in some out-of-the-box solutions to provide customers with a product that reflects the situation on the ground.”

It has been proposed to make two-wheelers wholly from plastics for use by the public, according to Khan. The plastic industry of Pakistan is very strong in terms of material and product specification.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2022.

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