FAW V2: Some Unconsidered Facts To Give Thought To Before Buying
It has been around 6 to 8 months since FAW launched the V2 EURO 4 in Pakistan with a price tag of 1,049,000 rupees. As compared to the local cars available in the market, FAW is offering a fully loaded 1300cc car with a very competitive price tag. Previously, under this price tag consumers were only left with 2 options i.e.; Cultus and Wagon R which do not offer value for money asked.
No doubt FAW V2 is far better than Cultus and Wagon R in all aspects but I personally believe that a large number of people may overlook some significant facts before buying this car.
As we all know, Pakistan’s auto industry is a monopoly of 3 big companies; Toyota, Honda and Suzuki; these companies do not let new automakers survive in the market. A very recent example; new policy was formulated for the import of Japanese vehicles back in 2012-13 under which cars older than 3 years were restricted just because the local auto manufacturers had to face drastic decrease in their sales. This drop in sales exhibited the change in buying behavior, people are depressed and want change.
Let’s talk about some more examples from the past. From the year 2000 to 2010, many potential automobile companies like Chevrolet, Cherry QQ, Mitsubishi Dewan Motors, KIA, Hyundai, and Nissan came to Pakistan with modern car technologies and designs but failed to sustain their business in Pakistan.
KIA Spectra and KIA Sportage received a great response from the Pakistani market but still KIA failed to sustain its business in Pakistan. Similarly everyone knows Hyundai Santro got immense popularity within no time of its launch but still ended up even after a great journey. Though it may be due to Dewan’s terrible handling of loans and equity, otherwise, they had the country’s most advanced plant. Even FAW came to Pakistan back in 2004-05 and launched FAW Roma in competition to Suzuki’s Bolan which gave a setback to Bolan’s sale. But then, FAW remained silent for many years and re-launched new vehicles a few months back.
Currently FAW V2 has no good resale value as compared to Cultus, Wagon R and Swift. I do not doubt the availability of spare parts for V2 after being convinced in a discussion with an official FAW dealer. Today, people are discussing and comparing this car with the local cars in market. But, what if today the government allows the import of cars up to 5 years old? Would people be discussing FAW V2 to the same extent? Not at all. Majority would be preferring Toyota Passo and other cars over FAW V2. And according some sources, government may allow the import of cars up to 5 years old in the upcoming budget. In such case, where would the resale of FAW V2 stand?
The purpose of writing this article is not to discourage a new entrant in our market but one should not ignore the history of new entrants who failed to continue under tough conditions. FAW V2 is a great car in such a price tag. I truly wish that FAW successfully sustains its business in Pakistan to provide sensibly priced cars with new technology and specifications or in other words, anything better than a 8 lakhs Mehran would be acceptable.
What do you think?