Speaking of Al Haj group, while I was getting my wife's PSO made, I was chatting with one of the staff and I put the question to them as to why they abandoned FAW. The answer was that Proton put the condition that if Al Haj wanted to be a partner with Proton then FAW must go. I think that is a bit strange as FAW posed no threat to Proton products as V2, FAW Carrier or FAW XPV do not compete with the Saga or X70.
My reason for putting the question to to the guy was to gauge how sound Al Haj was in the Pakistan market with respect to Proton. Well, I got my answer. Not too sound. Meaning that if tomorrow Al-Haj decides to bring in another more prestigious brand than Proton then we can expect to be left high and dry just like FAW owners have been. NOT GOOD STRATEGY. A better move would have been to form an independent company by Al Haj under a new name to continue support the FAW customers. After all FAW customers are just like us who spent hard earned money. Certainly such actions cast a bad light on Al Haj.
On a different note, I asked him what was the ratio of X70 sales to Saga. I was shocked to hear that for every 7-8 X70s they sell 2-3 Sagas. My next questions were how many assembly lines? are the Saga and X70 on the same line? How many shifts in a day? and finally, what was the X70 quota for the Islamabad showroom?
Answers were: There are three assembly lines, one for Saga and two for X70. Soon a second shift will be started to cope with the deliveries. The monthly quota for the Islamabad showroom is thirty X70 vehicles per month. In my book all these are good numbers.