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KARACHI: The BYD Gharo plant delay is raising uncomfortable questions about accountability and transparency in Pakistan’s flagship electric vehicle project, after the $150 million Sindh facility missed its promised first-half FY26 launch — the second time the timeline has slipped since the plant was announced. Analysts and consumers alike are asking whether the venture’s public messaging matches the reality on the ground.
Background: A Pattern of Slipping Deadlines
According to a note from Topline Securities, Hub Power Company (Hubco) has now told analysts the Gharo plant will only come online in the second half of 2026 — yet as early as February 2025, Hubco assured the same analysts it would be operational in 1HFY26, complete with four flagship and three service dealerships.
That promise has not materialised, and neither Hubco nor its associate company Mega Motor Company (Pvt) Ltd (MMCPL), which is spearheading the project with BYD Auto Industry Company, has offered a clear public explanation for the delay.
Mega Motor’s silence on the reasons behind the setback stands in sharp contrast to the confident language used at every prior milestone announcement — from the June 2024 entry into the EV business to July 2026 claims that the plant was in its “final stages.”
Independent observers note that Danish Khaliq, BYD Pakistan‘s VP Sales & Strategy, had separately promised in 2025 that the first locally assembled car would roll out by July or August 2026 — a target that has now clearly been missed, even as company statements continue to describe construction as being among “the fastest automotive manufacturing projects of its scale in Pakistan.”
The Bigger Pattern: Customer Trust Already Under Strain
The plant delay does not exist in isolation. BYD Pakistan is simultaneously facing mounting customer criticism over delivery delays on imported units, with buyers publicly complaining on social media about vehicles not arriving within the company’s own 30-day promise, and describing unclear or unresponsive answers from local dealerships.
That the company chose to publicise a record shipment of over 2,000 vehicles in July 2026 — while remaining quiet on why its flagship manufacturing plant has slipped for a second time — has struck some industry watchers as an exercise in managing optics rather than expectations.
Social Media Reaction
Frustration has spilled openly onto social media, with customers tagging BYD Global and Hubco directly over delivery complaints. Others have questioned why a company positioning itself as a leader in “Pakistan’s green development journey” has been unable to provide a straight answer on why a two-year-old construction project, repeatedly described as nearly complete, keeps missing its own deadlines.
Critical Analysis
Industry analysts caution that repeated delays carry real costs beyond public relations. Investment analysts have noted that Pakistan’s EV adoption already faces structural headwinds — an underdeveloped charging network, limited repair infrastructure, and uncertain resale values — meaning early movers like BYD cannot afford to squander consumer goodwill through unmet promises.
The lack of a transparent, on-record explanation for the assembly delay — despite multiple opportunities for the company to address it — is itself notable in a sector where Chinese automakers are competing aggressively for a still-nascent but fast-growing NEV market.
Comparisons are already being drawn with past controversies in Pakistan’s auto sector, where unexplained delivery delays fuelled public accusations of deliberate withholding for profit, even when such claims were never conclusively proven.
Whether or not similar dynamics are at play here, the pattern of missed deadlines without accountability risks undermining the very confidence BYD and its partners say they are trying to build.
