A decade earlier, we only had a Big3 Japanese car manufacturer in Pakistan. In 2014, during Nawaz Sharif’s era, import policies were revised, and people started importing JDM cars, especially those dinky Kei 660cc cars. Then, in 2019, we saw a boom in the number of Chinese brands that came to Pakistan, including Changan, MG, Haval, Cherry, and DFSK. It’s 2024 now, and these Chinese brands are giving a touch competition to Big3 in the upper segment cars market.
However, saying that buying a Chinese car is good value for money can be controversial. Some argue they offer great value and even call them ‘German killers,’ while others claim they are a waste of money in the long run. Let’s try to clear things up based on what we know so far.
Built Quality and Features
There is no comparison with Japanese local brands. If we take the example of Haval H6 and Cherry Tiggo 8 Pro, no Big3 brand can match their premiumness and features list, or if they do, they’ll charge you at least 2-3x the price of H6 and Tiggo 8.
Those who claim that Chinese cars lack build quality likely haven’t driven one or know little about them, as this is simply a myth! Chinese cars are as good as their JDM counterparts and even outperform them in many areas within the same price range.
It’s true that more features in a vehicle can increase the risk of malfunctions, but that doesn’t mean the car is bad or of low quality. For instance, Range Rover, a British brand, is notorious for check engine light issues, but this doesn’t imply poor build quality of the car:
Both cars fall in the same price category. Just decide for yourself which car interior is more appealing:
Winner: Chinese cars, their interiors and built quality are much better than the same budget Big3 car.
Resale Value
This is where things turn upside down. The resale factor of a Chinese brand and a Big3 is not comparable. It’s not because of the car’s issue but because of people’s mindsets regarding Chinese cars.
We’ve never seen a Chinese car owner complain about the engine or reliability after 4-5 years of ownership. It’s usually those who don’t own Chinese cars that criticize their build quality—just an observation.
Regarding engine reliability, of course, it’s a machine, and it can break down. But according to some consumers, if a JDM brand car breaks down, “it’s a machine,” and if a Chinese vehicle breaks down, “Chaynna di gaddi hai ustaad.”
However, the fact will remain: Chinese cars are less resaleable than Japanese locally assembled cars, and that’s a fact no one can change. But some good Chinese cars like Haval H6 have better resale than it’s counterparts. So we observe this trend is now changing slowly.
Winner: Big3, but some Chinese cars do outperform their Big3 counterparts.
Customer Support and 3S Service
Big3 has been in Pakistan for 20-30 years. Chinese brands are comparatively very new to Pakistan, mostly 4-5 years old only. So, it’s no wonder that Big3 has more dealerships and service centers and reaches more rural cities than its Chinese counterparts.
However, if you’re from an urban city like Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, or Faislabad, you probably wouldn’t have any issue finding a support center for both origin cars.
For example, Honda has a dealership network in over 20 cities in Pakistan, while Haval has dealership support in 10 cities. Not only that, but only in Karachi, Honda has over 7 dealerships, and Haval has 3 dealerships in the same city.
Note that Haval and other Chinese brands are comparatively very new, only 2-4 years old, while Honda and the other two JDM brands have been in Pakistan for over 3 decades.
Winner: Big3: since they are from the ’80s in Pakistan, so it’s no wonder that Big3 has a better dealership network as compared to Chinese brands, which are just 4-5 years old in the Pakistani market.
Spare Parts Pricing
Check this graph below; we quoted the price of headlights (October 2024 updated) for each car just for this blog:
| Model | Single Headlight Price in PKR | Price in PKR | Percentage to Invoice Price |
| Toyota | |||
| Corolla 1.6x CVT SE | 201,500.00 | 7,189,000 | 2.80% |
| Yaris AERO CVT 1.5 (old shape) | 47,400.00 | 5,849,000 | 0.81% |
| Fortuner Legender | 515,000.00 | 18,999,000 | 2.71% |
| Honda | |||
| City Aspire 1.3 MT | 82,700.00 | 5,649,000 | 1.46% |
| Civic Oriel 1.6 | 86,000 | 8,659,000 | 0.99% |
| ZS | 96,700.00 | 4,714,500 | 2.05% |
| Haval | |||
| H6 HEV | 260,000.00 | 11,866,500 | 2.19% |
| Jolion 1.5T | 240,000.00 | 8,028,500 | 2.99% |
| MG | |||
| HS Essence | 174,000.00 | 8,099,000 | 2.15% |
| ZS | 96,700.00 | 4,714,500 | 2.05% |
Now you can estimate which car’s spares are going to be expensive and which ones will be cheap!
Winner: Tie: can’t claim anything.
Engine Reliability
Again, we’ve not seen any owner complaining about the engine reliability of their 4-5-year-old Chinese car. You will see the 2020 model Changan Alsvin (because Alsvin came to Pakistan in 2020) running fine, just like a 2020 model Honda City. Same for other Haval and Cherry cars. 4-5 years is more than enough to test the car engine’s reliability. Especially for Pakistan, where weather and road conditions are extreme.
And for Big3, they are, of course, known for their reliability worldwide.
Winner: Tie: Chinese cars run fine as JDM locally manufactured cars. 4-5 years are more than enough to test the car engine’s reliability.
Let us know your comments as well!
