BYD’s Pakistan JV sees government support as critical for EVs

[KARACHI] BYD’s joint venture (JV) in Pakistan sees government support for electric vehicles (EVs) as key to the success of its plan to start local production next year, according to a company executive.

China’s leading carmaker agreed last year to manufacture and distribute vehicles in Pakistan as part of a partnership with Mega Motor Company, a subsidiary of Hub Power, Pakistan’s largest independent electricity producer.

“I’m coming as an investor looking at the next 20 years,” Danish Khaliq, vice-president for strategy and sales for the joint venture, told Bloomberg on the sidelines of a briefing in Karachi. “So there should be a policy that supports me,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s effort to spur development of the auto industry “needs to be consistent and it needs to be sustainable”.

Those policies include a target by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government to boost EVs to 30 per cent of total sales, imports and production in five years, and a pledge to reduce electricity prices at EV charging stations.

Khaliq said BYD has seen strong demand for its imported models as the JV prepares to roll out locally assembled plug-in hybrid and electric cars from its factory, the first in the region. He spoke on Tuesday at a briefing ahead of the launch of BYD’s plug-in hybrid Shark 6 pickup in Pakistan.

The plant will be set up near Karachi’s Port Qasim area and begin output in the first half of 2026, Bloomberg has reported. It’s located near vehicle assembly facilities of other automobile companies, including local units of Toyota Motor, Suzuki Motor and Kia.

More than half a dozen auto companies, led by Chinese brands, have launched EV models in Pakistan since last year. BYD is looking to the country to help it continue to grow even as its monthly sales have stagnated recently in China. BLOOMBERG