Car sales have plummeted in Kabul. Traders are reporting a 30 to 50 percent decline. Nematullah Tanin investigates.
HajjiFaridis a car seller in Bazar-e-Companyin the Afghan capital.
HajjiFaridis a car seller in Bazar-e-Companyin the Afghan capital. He says “Two years back we would do a deal a day. But nowadays we don’t sell even in one month!”
In Farid’s opinion the market has shrunk by 90 percent over the last two years. Buyers are shying away even though car prices have crashed by 40 percent, he rues.
Everyone Killid spoke to think the car market has got the shivers because of worries about worsening security in the wake of the pullout of foreign troops by end of next year.
Further, the declining value of the Afghani against other currencies has also hurt car sellers. Popular cars like a model of the Corolla manufactured after 2000, which would sell for about 20,000 USD up to 2011 has crashed to some 12,000, and there are still no buyers.
Sher Ahmad who is in charge of Brotheran Yaqubi Car Seller, says, “We don’t have any other remedy (except to slash prices). We have invested whatever we had on cars to earn a legal livelihood. Now the situation is so that all our hopes have changed into disappointment.”
He believes the car market has been hit by prevailing high rates of unemployment, insecurity and fear of the future. “All businesses including the car business has failed because the people cannot dare to invest,” he thinks.
Ahmad says that while no one can predict the future, the western media and government authorities have created a fear that there will be all round chaos and destruction after 2014.
“Everyone is waiting to see what will happen next year before investing money on cars,” he adds.
Ban on old cars
New laws have worsened problems for dealers. Sales of cars older than 2000 have been banned. But the fact is the majority of people looking to buy cars prefer older models because the prices are lower. The market for the latest models is restricted to mainly members of parliament, government officials and warlords.
According to Commander Bahramudin, president of the Car Sellers’ Union, in west Kabul, there are “140 car selling centres that have many hundreds of cars and trucks waiting for customers”. The unfortunate fact is “no one is asking about it (to buy),” he says.
Bahramudin thinksthe government should have given people time before shutting the door on older models, he adds. Hundreds of pre-2000 models of cars, reconditioned for the Afghan market, are stuck at ports of entry as a result of the ban.
General Asadullah Khan, chief of traffic police in Kabul, says, “Considering the rising population, traffic and pollution, the ministers’ council decided that the import of low model cars must be banned because the health of people cannot be compromised for the gains of a number of traders.”
The traffic department head estimates there are 700,000 vehicles in Kabul and 600,000 of these are registered.
Officials at the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industries are worried that the car market may never recover.Deputy Director of the chamber, Khan Jan Alokozai says, “The dormancy in the sale of cars and properties is the result of the fault of the government. The government was not able to make it attractive to invest.”
Alokozai wishes Afghanistan could become a car manufacturer instead of an importer. “With the pullout, work opportunities are gradually being eliminated. Industry could prepare the ground for employment opportunities. Work could be created for those needing it,” he says.
