As expected, rising freight charges and currency devaluation meant Indus Motor Company (IMC) jacked up prices of its entire line-up with the increase going as high as Rs1.257 million.

The price hike comes after Business Recorder reported that rising freight charges and ongoing rupee depreciation have not only put car prices under pressure but will also be the reasons for the overall market to see a minimum 10 to 15% reduction in sales in the coming fiscal year.

“I see the overall market going down by 10 to 15% minimum next (fiscal) year,” Jamali had said then.

While the rupee has hit record lows in recent days, and is currently trading well above the 181 level against the US dollar, the rise in freight charges is another major contributor to the price jump.

New prices

The company, in a letter to its dealers, said that the "sudden devaluation of Pakistani rupee and massive increase in prices of commodities and freight has resulted in increase of our CKD & local parts cost along with the increase in prices to our vendors".

"Thus, this situation has made it extremely difficult for IMC to hold the current retail selling prices and therefore, we are compelled to pass on some impact to the market," added the document, which is available with Business Recorder.

It added that the new prices will be implemented step-wise. For new orders booked on or after March 23, 2022, the following would be the new prices.

Toyota's Fortuner Diesel Legender variant saw the biggest price-jump. Its ex-factory Karachi price went up from Rs10.842m to Rs12.099m, an increase of Rs1,257,000.

Meanwhile, Toyota Yaris saw a price-hike of as much as Rs324,000.

The Corolla range saw its biggest hike for the 1.8 CVT SR (black) variant -- Rs490,000.

The Revo variants saw a jump in rates by as much as Rs847,000 for the Rocco variant, which is now priced at Rs9,319,000.

Further details of the price-increase, and other terms/conditions are listed below.

IMC reported a profit-after-tax of Rs10.17 billion in six months of the ongoing fiscal year (July-December 2021), translating into earnings per share (EPS) of Rs129.45. In the same six-month period of the previous year, its profit-after-tax stood at Rs4.8 billion (EPS of Rs61.08). However, the company’s gross margins have declined by 320bps on a quarterly basis, from 10.8% in July-September 2021 to 7.6% in October-December 2021.

This story was first published in Business Recorder on March 23, 2022.