| Ghandhara Automobiles | |
| Type: | Public |
| Foundation: | 1981 |
| Location: | Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan |
| Key People: | Ahmed Kuli Khan Khattak (CEO) |
| Industry: | Automotive |
| Products: | Chery, Dongfeng, JAC, Renault Trucks |
| Area Served: | Pakistan |
| Parent: | Bibojee Group |
| Subsid: | Ghandhara Industries Limited (19.09%) |
Ghandhara Automobiles Limited (Urdu: گندھارا اٹوموبیلز لمیٹڈ) formerly known as Ghandhara Nissan, is a Pakistani automobile manufacturer based in Karachi.
It was established in 1981.[1] Ghandhara Automobiles is the authorized assembler and manufacturer of Chery, Dongfeng,[2] JAC[3] and Renault Trucks[4] vehicles in Pakistan.[1] [5]
Ghandhara Nissan (Ghandhara Automobiles) was incorporated in 1981 for the distribution of completely built-up (CBU) Nissan vehicles in Pakistan. In 1992, it became a publicly listed company on the Karachi Stock Exchange. Ghandhara Nissan has a technical assistance agreement with Nissan Motors and a joint venture agreement with Nissan Diesel for the progressive assembly of passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles and heavy duty vehicles. Ghandhara Nissan's manufacturing and assembly plant which has a capacity of 6,000 cars per year, is located at Port Qasim, Karachi.[6]
Ghandhara Nissan forms one of several companies of Bibojee Services. In 2016, Renault announced to start assembling cars in Pakistan by 2018 in collaboration with Ghandhara Nissan,[7] [8] and collaborated with new partner Al-Futtaim Group of United Arab Emirates (UAE) but shelved the project later on.[9] [10]
In March 2018, Nissan signed a manufacturing and licensing agreement with Ghandhara Nissan to begin local production of Datsun models but suspended talks later.[11]
In February 2021, Ghandhara Nissan announced it would manufacture Chery vehicles in Pakistan.[12]
On April 18, 2023, Ghandhara Nissan Limited changed its name to Ghandhara Automobiles Limited.
As of 2015, it was hoped that Dongfeng trucks would be able to carve out a big share in the Pakistani market for trucks due to Pak-China Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. Pakistan is also witnessing an increased demand in heavy trucks due to CPEC and relative improvement in the country's security situation.[2] [3]