5 Decades of Automobile Industry in Nepal: The Story from 5.5 Million Vehicles to the ‘Made in Nepal’ Pavilion

August 24, Kathmandu.

Two years after the establishment of NADA Automobiles Association of Nepal, in 1977, Nepal registered 801 new vehicles throughout the year.

Today, there are approximately 5.5 million vehicles registered in the country. Approximately 84 percent of new registrations are motorcycles—a statistic that better explains how ordinary Nepalis commute than any car-related data.

Between these two figures lie fifty years that no one had planned for.

The size of the structure that has been built can be measured. In the last five fiscal years, Nepal imported vehicles and related materials worth approximately 470 billion rupees and paid approximately 351 billion rupees in customs duty on them.

In the last single fiscal year alone, this sector contributed over 75 billion rupees in revenue to the state. Very few industries in Nepal contribute such a large amount, and most of them are not discussed as an ‘industry’ but rather as a ‘consumption habit’.

What has been built beyond revenue is hard to count, but it is even more important: the dealer network spread across every province, the parts and aftermarket supply chain, trained mechanics and service technicians, auto finance making vehicles affordable even on a salary, vehicle insurance reaching the general market, and continuous dialogue with the government on policies related to emissions, safety, and taxation.

None of these happened on their own. All took decades.

And in recent years, the narrative itself has changed.

The ‘Made in Nepal / Made for Nepal’ pavilion at the Golden Jubilee edition will showcase vehicles and automobile materials produced or assembled within Nepal. Approximately eight Nepali manufacturers will participate, including producers of electric motorcycles, automotive batteries, lubricants, and helmets. These include Yatri, Asian Batteries, Kohinoor Plastic Industries, Nepal Lube Oil, and Purvanchal Lube Oil — mentioned here without any particular order or priority. [Final list to be confirmed by NADA Secretariat]

This is a small part of a two-hundred-stall floor. Therefore, it is appropriate to state clearly, without exaggeration, that in terms of automobiles, Nepal is not a manufacturing country, and no exhibition can make it one overnight. But for a country that, for the greater part of NADA’s fifty years, produced no automotive products of its own, it has now started making some, and is able to place them on the table alongside imported goods.

Along with the story of domestic production, there is also a story of continuity. Brands like Suzuki and Tata have been a part of Nepali roads for decades—so long that in many cases, the same family has bought vehicles from the same dealer for three generations.

“The message we want to convey is that Nepal is no longer limited to being just a country that imports vehicles. We are gradually moving towards self-reliance and domestic industry.” — Surendra Kumar Upreti, President, NADA

Fifty years ago, this organization was formed to represent those who brought vehicles into Nepal. Today, it represents everyone who brings in, assembles, finances, insures, services, supplies parts, and increasingly, manufactures some.

This is not a birthday. This is a different country.

For more: Nepal Shifted From Auto Imports to Manufacturing