Sazgar opens rickshaw plant in the Philippines: 12,000 electric and petrol three-wheelers a year

Lahore-based Sazgar Engineering Works has opened a manufacturing plant in the Philippines that can build about 12,000 three-wheelers a year, both electric and petrol, Business Recorder reported on 30 October. The plant is in Laguna province, south of Manila, and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. spoke at the opening.

"That is the kind of investment that we want," Marcos said, adding that the electric models can run 100 to 210 km on a single charge. The investment amount was not disclosed.

Sazgar Philippines plant at a glance

Why it matters for Pakistan

It is rare for a Pakistani carmaker to build a factory abroad. Sazgar has exported rickshaws for years, to Japan, Ethiopia, Qatar, Dubai, Mauritania and Afghanistan, and in 2024 to Japan, Liberia, Tanzania and Afghanistan. In September 2025 it named the Philippines, Mexico and Afghanistan as its targets for export growth. Assembling inside the Philippines puts it inside a market where three-wheelers are everyday public transport, and the Philippine side expects jobs and business for local suppliers of batteries, rubber and lubricants.

For Pakistan, a successful overseas plant means more demand for parts and engineering from the Lahore operation and more foreign earnings sent home, at a time when the government is pushing companies to export rather than only sell locally. It comes in the same week that Pakistan set a 50% local value target for phones and lifted the age limit on used car imports.

Who is Sazgar

Sazgar was set up in 1991 as a private company and became a public limited company in 1994. From its Lahore plants it makes auto rickshaws, tractor wheel rims, auto parts and home appliances, and it assembles Haval and BAIC vehicles in Pakistan. Current Haval prices are on our car price list, and our car loan calculator shows the monthly cost on any of them.