ISLAMABAD: Around 74 per cent of Pakistanis listen radio while driving, a third edition of auto industry survey has revealed.
The survey has revealed new insights into automotive sector including people’s buying and selling habits, patterns and preferences.
11000 individuals from all age groups participated in the survey conducted by PakWheels.com.
It revealed that 75% of drivers on Pakistani roads are breaking law by not complying with Provincial Motor Vehicles Ordinance which mandatorily requires every car in Pakistan to be insured.
Around 24 % out of respondents drive cars without a license in Pakistan with 41 % of them being even below the age of 21 years, the survey said and added that only 25 % of Pakistanis have their cars insured, which is primarily because they are bank financed and insurance is mandatory for such cars. The number could go further low if insurance was not mandatory for financed cars.
While the violation of insurance specific law could be attributed to lack of knowledge about this ordinance, the fact that significant number of drivers are also driving without a license points to a deeper issue at societal level.
Survey further validated that Toyota Corolla is the most preferred car of Pakistan followed by Honda City, Honda Civic, Suzuki Mehran and Suzuki Cultus respectively.
As expected, the market is still dominated by Big-3 brands Suzuki, Toyota and Honda. The anticipated entry of other auto manufacturers in Pakistan, including Nissan, Datsun, Renault, Volkswagen etc. in the near future could give a really tough time to the Big 3.
The survey has also shed light onto car buying habits of Pakistanis with 60 % of the respondents buying used cars and 40 % buying new cars.
Though auto financing has seen rapid growth over last 2 years, yet according to the survey, only 22 % of the new car owners and 5 % of the used car owners purchased through auto financing or loan. These numbers give a clear indication that banks will witness significant growth in auto financing in the coming days.
While safety, comfort and other features are top of list when it comes to consumer preferences when buying a car in developed markets like US, Europe, etc., the survey revealed that Pakistani customers still consider fuel efficiency and resale value far more important than safety and other features.
This could be one of the reasons that certain mandatory safety features like Airbags in western markets are missing from majority of the locally assembled vehicles. –APP
