Pakistan’s car imports jump 36% to $81.4 million in July-August

Foreign shipments of new and secondhand vehicles rose 36% to $81.4 million in July-August 2026, according to Profit by Pakistan Today, up from $59 million in the same months a year earlier. New entrants brought in cars ahead of local assembly, and used imports kept flowing despite revisions to the import schemes.

Used vehicle arrivals swung widely in recent months after the baggage scheme was scrapped in January and mandatory pre-shipment checks were introduced for gift and transfer-of-residence imports. Data from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics showed 48 used units in May, 843 in June, 1,938 in July and 1,445 in August. Roughly 3,200 used vehicles arrived across July and August, while leading Chinese firms brought in between 1,500 and 2,000 new energy vehicles monthly.

For the full FY26, used imports fell to about 38,000 units from 42,000 in FY25 after the government ended baggage-scheme imports. Local auto-parts vendors are concerned that completely built-up imports cut demand for domestically made components, and the industry argues this affects employment in the vendor base. Several locally assembled models already have over half their value localised, with that content averaging close to Rs1.5 million per vehicle.