PROTON seems to be going places under the helm of its Geely-Proton management. Recently, they entered into an agreement for the first ever CKD assembly plant for Proton vehicles in Pakistan. The event was officiated recently when the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Yang Amat Berhormat Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the Prime Minister of Pakistan, His Excellency Mr Imran Khan, signed a ceremonial marble plaque at an event held in Islamabad, Pakistan. This happened during Tun Mahathir's recent visit to Pakistan earlier this March.
The plant, which will be built in Karachi, will be owned and operated by ALHAJ Automotive, who are the official distributor for Proton vehicles in Pakistan and also the main investor in setting up the manufacturing facility. According to PROTON, the plant is expected to commence operations before the end of 2020 and is in line with their Seven Stars Strategy.
As a recap, PROTON unveiled the seven stars strategy in 2017. This is their roadmap for the future which includes targeting to sell 400,000 units by 2027. In order to achieve such a large sales target, PROTON has to push for export sales and the establishment of CKD assembly plants in overseas markets is one of the steps taken to grow those numbers. So while PROTON's Tanjung Malim Plant is currently being upgraded, it is most likely the base for Right Hand Drive and South East Asian market production. A plant in Pakistan could most likely be the regional hub to produce and sell to the Middle East markets.
So in order to establish PROTON in Pakistan, an agreement with ALHAJ Automotive was entered into on 29 August 2018. This first phase was with the group being appointed as the sole distributor for Proton vehicles in Pakistan. But like Malaysia, Pakistan also has tax incentives if you produce cars locally. So in order to take advantage of reduced duties for CKD vehicles in the country, a plant would have to be constructed to produce Proton cars there.
It would also seem that ALHAJ is the local partner with the capabilities to do so. According to PROTON, ALHAJ has the required experience and resources to manage and grow sales of Proton vehicles in their home country of Pakistan. The new CKD assembly plant, to be built in Karachi on a Greenfield site with an initial investment of USD30 million coming from ALHAJ,. According to PROTON, this will create 2,000 direct employment opportunities during its first three years of operations and it is estimated that a further 20,000 indirect jobs will also be created as a result of the new plant being commissioned.
“ALHAJ Automotive is delighted to be the official distributor for PROTON in Pakistan. We will leverage on our current dealerships located nationwide to start selling Proton vehicles as soon as possible while we develop standalone 3S/4S outlets at the same time. Initially we will source CBU units from Malaysia before switching to CKD products once the new assembly plant begins operations before the end of 2020,” said Mr. Al-Haj Shah Jee Gul Afridi, Chairman of ALHAJ Automotive.
Definitely on a roll this newly revitalised Proton.
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