According to the Duke of Wellington, the battle of waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton and Harrow. The story of Sothassi motorcycles began on the playing fields of Headstart School in Islamabad. Shamoon Qureshi, the young middle school student was visiting his friend Ammar Ul Mulk in Chitral during the summer vacations. One day he noticed a large spider crawling on the floor at a fast pace, he asked his friend what it was and he was told, it is a Sothassi. The name fired his imagination and right there, he decided that someday he will build a motorcycle in Pakistan and call it sothassi. Almost twenty five years later that dream has come true and Sothassi motorcycles have been introduced to the Pakistani motorcycle market.
At a time when educated young people are leaving the country in droves in search of greener pastures Shamoon Qureshi gave up an exciting well paid job in the UK to come back to his country and put his heart and soul in the risky business of manufacturing motorcycles. This project has been a long hard struggle a daunting task in the face of competition from established brands like Honda and Kawasaki but this young man stuck to his guns with fierce determination. Pakistan is one of the biggest motorcycle markets and it has welcomed with open arms the new local brand called Sothassi that has entered the market with three high capacity bikes that include Classic 400, Crossfire Cromwell 1200.
These bikes have been launched at a time when there is a great interest in Pakistan for premium bikes and high capacity machines Unlike brands focused on daily commuter motorcycles, Sothassi is targeting riders looking for performance, advanced technology, and premium riding experiences. Sothassi says its vision is to introduce modern motorcycle technology to Pakistan while working toward manufacturing world-class motorcycles locally in the future. Pakistan's big bike market has traditionally depended on imported motorcycles with limited official support. The arrival of a local company focusing on premium motorcycles could provide enthusiasts with more choices, better after-sales support, and potentially improved availability in the future. Yes Sothassi is a Pakistani motorcycle brand focused on introducing premium and high-capacity motorcycles to the local market.
The arrival of a local company focusing on premium motorcycles could provide enthusiasts with more choices, better after-sales support, and potentially improved availability in the future.
The man and brains behind Sothassi is a young enthusiastic Pakistani called Shamoon Qureshi born and brought up in Islamabad. He completed his O Levels from Islamabad and then went on to do his A levels from Gordonstoun School in Scotland. After his A levels he joined Imperial college London and did his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical engineering. Motivated by his history teacher in Islamabad he entered Oxford University and did his PPE (Politics, Philosophy Economics). Looking back now there is a remarkable progression from the young man I taught in 2007 to the bright engineer and entrepreneur that he is today. Before starting his venture in Islamabad Shamoon has been previously involved in motorcycle engineering work in the UK including working on a record breaking superbike. Southassi has been founded with the ambition of bringing international motorcycle technology to Pakistan and eventually designing and manufacturing world class motorcycles in Pakistan. The objective of Shamoon Qureshi is to combine technology from around the world with local manufacturing. Rather than competing with Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki in the Pakistani 70 commuter market
Shamoon chose the much smaller but potentially lucrative market for large premium motorcycles. The Sothassi Company has partnered with Brixton Motorcycles of Austria for its larger motorcycles crossfire and Cromwell 1200 are produced in collaboration with its Austrian partner with the bikes assembled in Pakistan. The heart of the Sothassi business is its modern factory in Rawat. The factory uses CKD (Completely Knocked Down) assembly in which motorcycles arrive as kits and are then assembled locally. This process has a major economic advantage. Importing a completely built motorcycle attracts much higher costs and duties. Local assembly allows Sothassi to offer much larger motorcycles at substantially lower prices than equivalent fully imported machines. So Sothassi is a genuinely Pakistani founded company but its products combine Pakistani ownership and local assembly with international technology and partnerships. The main objective of sothassi is to start the production of premier motorcycles in Pakistan and provide better access to spare parts and after sales support facility. The experience of the founder in distributing motorcycle parts is extensive during his work in the UK.
Pakistan faces severe economic difficulties, driven by a high debt-to-GDP ratio of 70% to 80%, massive external debt servicing commitments exceeding $23 billion annually, heavy taxation, inflated energy and fuel tariffs, and a perpetual reliance on International Monetary Fund bailout packages. The govt is making all possible efforts to attract foreign investments but ironically foreign companies are leaving Pakistan in large numbers. The economy is kept afloat by remittances sent by overseas Pakistanis and young educated Pakistanis are looking for jobs abroad. In all this scenario, we find a young Pakistani Shamoon Qureshi giving up a lucrative career in the UK to set up a motorcycle manufacturing plant in Pakistan. People like Shamoon Qureshi deserve all the help, support and encouragement that can be provided by all our Govt agencies and institutions.