Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD is expected to begin assembling cars at its new Pakistan plant this month, marking the first local production of electric vehicles in the country at scale (Express Tribune; PakWheels). The facility, a joint venture with Mega Motor Company — a subsidiary of Hub Power Company — is located near Karachi and backed by approximately $150 million in combined investment.
Production will begin with semi-knocked-down (SKD) units: electric drivetrains, batteries, and key components will be imported from China, while non-electric parts will be sourced locally. Initial capacity is set at 25,000 units annually in double-shift operations. All vehicles will initially target Pakistan’s domestic market; export to other right-hand-drive markets may be explored depending on freight economics and local demand dynamics.
BYD is targeting a 30 to 35 percent share of Pakistan’s EV and plug-in hybrid vehicle segment, which analysts project to grow significantly as fuel costs remain elevated and the government’s EV policy provides concessional import duties on kits and components for locally assembled EVs.
Why Pakistan, why now
BYD’s Pakistan entry is part of a broader push into emerging markets where it can establish early-mover advantages before traditional Japanese and Korean automakers build EV supply chains. Pakistan’s auto market — which sold approximately 280,000 vehicles in FY26 — is dominated by small and mid-sized cars; BYD’s initial lineup targets the segment above the locally assembled hatchbacks but below the luxury import market, a space that currently has limited EV options.
The energy context matters: Pakistan’s elevated petrol prices — at Rs 297.53 per litre after the July 4 revision — and the continued RLNG cost increases have made the total cost of ownership calculation for EVs more favourable than at any previous point. Charging infrastructure remains thin outside major urban centres, which constrains the addressable market to Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad for the near term.
The Hub Power partnership embeds BYD in Pakistan’s energy-industrial complex; Hub Power has existing relationships with the government on power generation and is well-positioned to develop charging networks as an adjacent business to EV sales.
