Govt decides to regulate used car imports

After months of serious pressure by local automobile manufacturers, the government has decided to regulate used car imports as the local auto industry sounded alarms over 120,000 imported vehicles within a year, which had pushed the local industry to the verge of collapse. The decision was taken here on Thursday during a high-level meeting chaired by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production, Haroon Akhtar Khan, with the delegation of the auto industry. The participants of the meeting were informed that the Prime Minister of Pakistan has directed all the relevant quarters, including the Ministry of Industries and Production, to devise a new framework on the subject of used car imports to protect local manufacturing units. According to the officials of the Engineering Development Board (EDB), the share of used car imports in Pakistan has jumped from 7.5 percent in 2020-23 to 20 percent in 2025, which is posing a serious threat to local manufacturing, investment, and employment.