Proton Saga off to a bad start in Pakistan as country sees increase in car prices

When Proton returned to Pakistan in December 2020, the excitement and anticipation were high with the Proton Saga and Proton X70 being some of the more modern but affordable offerings in the country. However, a little under a year later, things are not doing so well for the Malaysian tiger.

First, there was a disruption with stock availability due to Malaysia's MCO and then there were delays to the Saga’s local assembly (CKD) in Pakistan.

Also read: Malaysia's MCO further delays Proton Pakistan's plans - CKD Saga, X70 delayed again

Though things appeared to be normal with CKD production starting and deliveries made to dealers, Proton’s luck in Pakistan appears to hit a snag when its partners, Al-Haj Automotive announced an increase in prices of the Saga in the country over the weekend.

Also read: First CKD Pakistan Proton Saga rolls off production line, X70 to follow suit

According to the announcement, prices for the Saga have been increased by PKR 224,000 (~RM 5,400) across the three variants. It is worth noting that the price increase only affects the Saga while there was no announcements for the X70.

This comes as a surprise seeing that price cuts were announced back in July following the Pakistani government’s relaxation of tax duties.

Also read: Proton Pakistan slashes prices by up to RM 2k for Saga and X70

However, the price increase isn’t only affecting the Proton Saga in the country and just like the limited availability of units, this latest issue is entirely out of Proton Pakistan’s control.

The weak Pakistani rupee compounded by higher production costs means that even models that are locally assembled see a price hike despite being imposed more favourable tax rebates.

Aside from Proton, other carmakers also announced an increase in prices for their models. Prices for Toyota models were increased by PKR 140,000-580,000 (~RM 3,300-14,000) while the recently-launched Honda City GM6 saw prices increased by PKR 130,000-195,000 (~RM 3,100-4,700).

Also read: 12 year old GM2 City replaced by GM6 Honda City in Pakistan, still no stability control

Weak forex affects car prices anywhere in the world and Malaysia is no exception. Suffice to say, the early fanfare experienced by Proton in Pakistan might be not quite as massive as before but the models are still well-received over there.

Also read: Weak Ringgit to push up new car prices in Malaysia, regardless if it’s CKD or CBU

The Pakistani-spec Saga is powered by a slightly smaller 1,299-cc 4-cylinder engine to comply with local tax laws but produces the same power output as the 1,332-cc unit that is used in the local Saga (96 PS/120 Nm). This is paired to either a 5-speed manual transmission or a 4-speed automatic.

Also read: Export-spec Proton Saga launched in Pakistan, R3 variant gets a manual!

The Pakistani X70, meanwhile, gets its power from a turbocharged 1.5-litre 3-pot unit (177 PS/255 Nm) instead of the turbocharged 1.8-litre 4-cylinder engine (184 PS/300 Nm) from the local X70. The smaller unit is also offered on the Nepal- and Bangladesh-spec X70s and the Proton X50.