The $150 million Port Qasim facility being built by the Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer together with the HUBCO subsidiary, Mega Motors, is still projected to be completed in either Q3 or Q4 of 2026; this facility will be BYD’s first manufacturing facility for South Asia and will be able to produce 25,000 vehicles per year.
ISLAMABAD: The Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD has reiterating it commitment to producing locally in Pakistan with plans for building a local assembly plant near Karachi. Current progress on the local assembly plant is on target to begin producing vehicles by mid-2026. The first vehicle manufactured in Pakistan is expected to release in July or August 2026 and aims to meet the increasing regional demand for EV’s (electric vehicles) and PHEV’s (plug-in hybrids).
The construction of the facility began in April and is nearing completion near Karachi, thanks to a partnership between BYD and Mega Motor Company (a Hub Power subsidiary). The plant has been established near the existing automotive manufacturing clusters in Pakistan by Port Qasim, allowing it to access existing market supply chains as well.
Danish Khaliq, Vice President for Sales and Strategy for Mega Motor states that this project has an anticipated investment of $150 million, and the new facility should be operational sometime during Q3 or Q4 of 2026.
Initial production capacity and approach
Initial production capacity and strategy The facility will be able to manufacture 25,000 units (annualised) on a dual-shift basis at startup; Khaliq did not provide information regarding the projected completion date for Phase 1 or the expected start date for full volume assembly of Transport Vehicles and Buses.
The plant’s assembly of imported parts will be the only means of producing vehicles while local suppliers begin to supply nonelectric parts to the plant in Phase 1. Until such time as the company has completed its development efforts to integrate common vehicle systems into right-hand-drive markets (depending on freight rates and cost of doing business), only vehicles will be sold in Australia and all commercially available vehicles will be manufactured there.
Reasons BYD is choosing to operate in Pakistan
The manufacturing facility will be constructed to meet the growing needs of emerging countries, while benefitting from incentives provided by the Government of Pakistan. Pakistan’s auto industry development and Export Policy is one way to entice new participants into local assembly facilities by decreasing trade tariffs and taxes on such projects from 2021 to 2026. Moreover, Khaliq enumerates many reasons for transitioning to cleaner forms of mobility, including increases in air pollution typically attributed to transportation, as well as the large increase in foreign fuel imports, adding support for diversifying the energy supply.
Summary of Early Sales of EVs in Pakistan
BYD initiated deliveries of electric cars by sea in March 2019, up five months from initial projections. Early sales surpassing internal targets by 30%. Khaliq sees a market for electric cars and plug-in hybrids growing to 3 to 4 times the current level (1.0K units) in 2025. BYD expects to capture 30% to 35% of EV market share. Based on a HUBCO public filing, BYD generated Rs 444 million in profit for the March 2025 quarter a significant early profit milestone given that they still only had imported product to sell.
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Competitive pressure on Japanese incumbents
In the commercial automotive market in Pakistan, Japanese manufacturers, such as Toyota, Suzuki and Honda, have been dominant players in the passenger car segment ever since that market began almost 20 years ago. However, during this same time period, Chinese automakers have started to increase their share of the Pakistani automotive marketplace especially in the SUV, Hybrid and Electric Vehicle (EV) segments.
At present, Chinese Automobile OEMs comprise approximately 20 percent of total passenger cars sold in Pakistan, which is being driven primarily by the establishment of Chinese Assembly Plants in Pakistan such as the new BYD Pakistan Assembly Plant. As a result of the BYD Pakistan Assembly Plant opening, the landscape has changed and will likely continue to change in the future as more and more Chinese Automobile OEMs build Assembly Plants in Pakistan and compete with their Japanese counterparts on an equal footing after years of being only Importers.
What comes next
According to the current timeline, the first local assembly of BYD electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles will occur in Pakistan by the end of 2026. The establishment of a manufacturing facility by BYD in Pakistan would be their first major investment for manufacturing purposes within South Asia. Once production ramps up and the economics of manufacturing are favourable, the facility could serve as an export base to right-hand-drive countries within the surrounding region.
In the meantime, we await confirmation that the assembly plant will remain on schedule for the expected roll-out period in July/August 2026 and we shall see if there continues to be high levels of demand shown through the sales of the vehicles BYD has imported, to the extent that there will be sufficient demand for locally-assembled vehicles that will be available in showrooms once assembly begins.
Nayab Fatima is a university graduate and an emerging media professional with a strong passion for journalism, research, and independent reporting. She specializes in developing well-researched, fact-based, and analytical news stories covering a wide range of sectors, with particular expertise in technology, telecommunications, aviation, and the automobile industry.
