rewrite this content with different wording and keep HTML tags
In the past two or three months, we’ve seen many car manufacturers slash their pricing on multiple models and variants. This was expected, as the rate at which the MRP of our local cars increased, the purchasing power of the people steadily declined, and no manufacturer wanted to see a reduced figure in sales.
Hence, multiple manufacturers have dropped prices. Many brands are localizing spare parts production and reducing their profit margins to lower the cost of cars in new revised pricing.
Another reason is the ex-GST issue. If you remember, back in March 2023, the government increased GST on 1400cc and above cars (including SUVs) to 25% from the previous 18%.
Now, in March of 2024, exactly one year, the government changed the regulation, implementing 25% GST on all cars with ex-GST prices above Rs. 4 million. Seeing this, Toyota and Honda reduced their car rates, taking the prices of their 1.3 and 1.2 top variants below Rs. 4 million to ensure their brackets remain under Rs. 4 million to avoid the new tax. Read more about it.
For your convenience, here’s a compilation of all the cars that have received price slashes from March 2024 to the present. We will continue to update this blog as more manufacturers revise and drop prices.
KIA Stonic
KIA calls the Stonic a compact C-segment SUV. It’s a good car and probably the best deal under Rs.4 million if you don’t mind a hatchback in this price category. However, its fuel average is the only sector where it lacks. Upon discussion in multiple groups, we came to know that Sonic’s fuel average is not good, hardly 9-11 Km/l in the city, and its parts are also expensive.
Otherwise, the car is a solid machine. You get all the hi-tech features and all the standard safety features. The drive quality of Stonic is also better than other vehicles of the same price segment + you get sunroof in the 4.7 million price.
- Old price: 6.4 million PKR
- New price: 4.7 million PKR (reduction announced on Apr 29, 2024)
- Change in price: 1.5 million PKR
Suzuki Swift
Seeing the Stonic, Pak Suzuki couldn’t allow KIA to overtake their Swift’s market, so PSC also dedicated their Swift to price slashing trend and lowered the cost of Swift GLX CVT by 710K PKR, making it cost the same as the KIA Stonic.
Now, after the price cut, the KIA Stonic and Suzuki Swift are very tough competitors, and it’s not possible to state which one is better than the other. Swift is also a very solid, feature-loaded car with modern looks and of course, it has a Suzuki emblem, so resale isn’t an issue.
Yesterday, we compared Swift with Stonic one-on-one. You might consider reading it to better understand how tough the competition is in both cars.
- Old Price: 5.4 million PKR (GLX CVT)
- New Price: 4.7 million PKR (reduction announced on May 2, 2024)
- Change in Price: 710K PKR
Toyota Yaris
On March 14, 2024, Toyota also announced a price cut on its Yaris variants. However, IMC only gave us a discount of a few penny rupees relative to the rate at which they increased its cost, i.e., a 73K-133K PKR reduction. However, being a Toyota, you get the best resale value and easy accessibility to spare parts. It’s also currently the cheapest sedan that IMC offers, with some good features but not so fancy.
We would still say if you have not much issue with the resale, Stonic is a much better option with lots of hi-tech goodies and a variety of standard features including 6 airbags, 5-start ANCAP ratings, auto headlights, cruise control, LED headlights, and even sunroof.
- Old Price: 4.89 million PKR (ATIV 1.3 CVT)
- New Price: 4.76 million PKR (reduction announced on March 14, 2024)
- Change in price: 133K PKR
Honda City
The very next day of the Yaris price cut, Honda also reduced their price of City by up to 140K PKR, which seems a very little discount when the price tag is Rs.4.8 million PKR. Honestly, there’s no reason to promote Honda City for Rs.4.8 million PKR. The only good thing about the City is that it has a boot, good resale, and good legroom.
Features and security, there’s nothing cool about this car, or if it does, it’s not surprising when you look at the price tag. However, there are many people who still buy Honda City, and those types of people only care about resale and parts availability and have nothing to do with specs, design, and features. For example, the price tag of around about 5 million PKR gets you halogen headlights, steel rims, no push start, and not even digital climate control.
- Old Price: 4.8 million PKR (1.2 CVT)
- New Price: 4.68 million PKR (reduction announced on Mar 15, 2024)
- Change in Price: 140K PKR
Cherry Tiggo 8 Pro
On 16th April, Cherry announced a massive price drop of Rs.850K on the Tiggo 8 Pro. Now, that was a good deal, not like Toyota and Honda, which just dropped some pennies (relative to their price tag) in the name of a price cut.
Tiggo is overall a good car with some good features and good drive quality. However, you might face a resale issue in Tiggo because of its Chinese emblem, and, you know, in the Pakistani market, there’s a strong bias against car brands originating from China. Many consumers automatically assume that if a car is of Chinese origin, it must be inferior or low-quality.
In reality, today’s Chinese brands provide much better quality and value-for-money deals than our Big 3s, e.g., MG HS, Tiggo 8 Pro, Haval Jolion, and Baic BJ40. They are much better in drive, design, built quality, safety, and features than what Japanese and South Korean brands offer for the same price.
- Old Price: 10.3 million PKR
- New Price: 9.5 million PKR (reduction announced on Apr 16, 2024)
- Price Change: 850K PKR
Peugeot 2008
Just days later of the Stonic’s price decrease, Peugeot also jumped on the trend and reduced the price of the 2008 by up to 450K PKR. (full payment). It’s the 2nd time Peugeot has announced the price cut. Earlier this March, the company dropped the car price by Rs. 100,000. This was the second price cut with this time the drop of up to 450K PKR.
- Old Price: 7.7 million PKR (Allure, full payment)
- New Price: 7.25 million PKR (reduction announced on Apr 16, 2024)
- Change in Price: 450K PKR
