Hikes continue: Lucky Motor raises KIA car prices

Lucky Motor Corporation (LMC) hiked prices of its vehicles on Tuesday, adjusting the increase in rate of sales tax, which will be applicable on bookings made from February 14 onward.

In a notice, the firm said the hike came “due to increase in sales tax rate from 17% to 18% in line with the SRO 129(1)/2023 dated February 14, 2023”.

The Picanto MT model saw a price increase of Rs28,000 to Rs3.228 million while the high end KIA Carnival became costlier by Rs129,000 to Rs15.129 million.

In less than two months, almost all car and motorcycle makers have jacked up prices multiple times.

Pak Suzuki, Indus Motor Company and Honda Atlas Cars recently announced their third price increases since the beginning of 2023.

Lucky Motor Corporation and Hyundai Nishat Motor also announced hikes earlier this year.

Experts say the auto sector will see its sales go down in 2023 because cars are getting expensive while the buying power of the nation is tanking amid historic inflation.

In January 2023, automobile sales in Pakistan fell to the lowest level since June 2020 as they witnessed a drop of 36% month-on-month to 10,867 units, according to the data released by the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association (PAMA). On a year on year basis, car sales fell 47%.