Pakistan’s Lucky Motors partners with China’s GAC as it bets fuel shock will drive EV switch
Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
- Lucky Motors signs deal with China’s GAC for EV launch
- Local assembly targeted for December 2026
- Firm also eyes Pakistan’s first battery swapping network for cars
- Rooftop solar and Iran war-linked fuel price rise create EV opportunity
Pakistan’s Lucky Motors is betting fuel-price shocks and rooftop solar adoption will speed up electric vehicle demand, as it launches EVs with Chinese state-owned automaker GAC and plans local assembly as early as the year-end, its CEO told Reuters.
Pakistan’s Lucky Motors partners with China’s GAC as it bets fuel shock will drive EV switch
- Lucky Motors signs deal with China’s GAC for EV launch
- Local assembly targeted for December 2026
- Firm also eyes Pakistan’s first battery swapping network for cars
- Rooftop solar and Iran war-linked fuel price rise create EV opportunity
Pakistan’s Lucky Motors is betting fuel-price shocks and rooftop solar adoption will speed up electric vehicle demand, as it launches EVs with Chinese state-owned automaker GAC and plans local assembly as early as the year-end, its CEO told Reuters.
The launch comes as Pakistani consumers face their sharpest fuel price increases in years, with prices double those of four years ago, as the U.S.-Iran conflict disrupts supply through the Strait of Hormuz.
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“Every crisis has an opportunity. This crisis has actually helped Pakistani consumers transition fast from conventional fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles,” said Muhammad Faisal, CEO of Lucky Motor Corporation (LMC), known as Lucky Motors.
Under an agreement with Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC), Lucky Motors began displaying four Aion and Hyptec models from GAC across Pakistan this week and plans to begin local manufacturing of its partner’s EVs as soon as December 2026, he said.
GAC is Lucky Motors’ third automotive brand after Kia and Peugeot, which are both assembled at its Karachi plant. It is a subsidiary of Lucky Cement (LUKC.PSX), opens new tab, one of Pakistan’s largest conglomerates.
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Faisal said he expected the initial imported stock of GAC cars, which he described only as a “sizeable order”, to sell out within two months.
EVs remain a small fraction of Pakistan’s annual car sales, dominated by Japanese and Korean brands.
The shift has been faster in two-wheelers, where EV sales nearly tripled to around 5% of all bikes sold, according to consultancy Renewables First.
SOLAR REVOLUTION CHARGES THE CASE
Faisal said Pakistan’s solar revolution was accelerating the case for four-wheelers. Solar now supplies around a quarter of the country’s electricity, making home overnight charging viable for the urban buyers Lucky Motors is targeting.
“A lot of people buying these products have solar on the rooftop. It makes it easy to charge overnight and use the car during the day,” he said.
The firm is also eyeing battery swapping — a technology that lets drivers exchange a depleted pack for a charged one in minutes — in what would be a first in Pakistan, with a rollout targeted for around the same time as local EV assembly begins, Faisal said.
Faisal also said that Lucky Motors and GAC were in early discussions about exporting Pakistani-assembled vehicles to other right-hand drive markets, where GAC has limited presence.
Beyond vehicles, Lucky Motors — which also assembles Samsung-branded smartphones at its Karachi plant — was studying local battery manufacturing, pending a government policy expected soon.
Islamabad has set a target of 30% EV sales by 2030 and pledged $400 million for more than 3,000 public charging points.
The launch comes as Pakistani consumers face their sharpest fuel price increases in years, with prices double those of four years ago, as the U.S.-Iran conflict disrupts supply through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Reuters Iran Briefing newsletter keeps you informed with the latest developments and analysis of the Iran war. Sign up here.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue
“Every crisis has an opportunity. This crisis has actually helped Pakistani consumers transition fast from conventional fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles,” said Muhammad Faisal, CEO of Lucky Motor Corporation (LMC), known as Lucky Motors.
Under an agreement with Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC), Lucky Motors began displaying four Aion and Hyptec models from GAC across Pakistan this week and plans to begin local manufacturing of its partner’s EVs as soon as December 2026, he said.
GAC is Lucky Motors’ third automotive brand after Kia and Peugeot, which are both assembled at its Karachi plant. It is a subsidiary of Lucky Cement (LUKC.PSX), opens new tab, one of Pakistan’s largest conglomerates.
Advertisement · Scroll to continue
Faisal said he expected the initial imported stock of GAC cars, which he described only as a “sizeable order”, to sell out within two months.
EVs remain a small fraction of Pakistan’s annual car sales, dominated by Japanese and Korean brands.
The shift has been faster in two-wheelers, where EV sales nearly tripled to around 5% of all bikes sold, according to consultancy Renewables First.
SOLAR REVOLUTION CHARGES THE CASE
Faisal said Pakistan’s solar revolution was accelerating the case for four-wheelers. Solar now supplies around a quarter of the country’s electricity, making home overnight charging viable for the urban buyers Lucky Motors is targeting.
“A lot of people buying these products have solar on the rooftop. It makes it easy to charge overnight and use the car during the day,” he said.
The firm is also eyeing battery swapping — a technology that lets drivers exchange a depleted pack for a charged one in minutes — in what would be a first in Pakistan, with a rollout targeted for around the same time as local EV assembly begins, Faisal said.
Faisal also said that Lucky Motors and GAC were in early discussions about exporting Pakistani-assembled vehicles to other right-hand drive markets, where GAC has limited presence.
Beyond vehicles, Lucky Motors — which also assembles Samsung-branded smartphones at its Karachi plant — was studying local battery manufacturing, pending a government policy expected soon.
Islamabad has set a target of 30% EV sales by 2030 and pledged $400 million for more than 3,000 public charging points.
Reference Link:- https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pakistans-lucky-motors-partners-with-chinas-gac-it-bets-fuel-shock-will-drive-ev-2026-05-22/
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
