Pakistan: new kid on the block of automotive exporters

It is certainly an interesting time for automotive manufacturing organisations. Donald Trump is doing all he can to up-end the established geography of production in North America and for countries with a history of exporting to the US specifically. One of the unknown consequences of this development is how vehicle companies will adjust their production geographies across the world. Some unusual changes and developments will likely occur as vehicle companies have to rebalance production to avoid having uneconomic or stranded assets.

The industry had been operating a global model, in many cases with a single production site supplying worldwide for many vehicles. Regional production centres have of course developed but the global trade in vehicles and parts has involved millions of units and billions of dollars per year. While global trade will not be entirely eroded by the Trump tariff policy, the overall level of automotive trade will likely reduce and change.

And amidst this rapidly changing sector, reports from Pakistan include the news that its fledgling automotive manufacturing sector has started vehicle exports.