Claim: Multinational Japanese automobiles manufacturer Suzuki has decided to discontinue the GS150 motorcycle in Pakistan and launch a new motorcycle with a 125cc engine.
Fact: Suzuki has not announced any plans to discontinue the GS150 motorcycle in Pakistan and launch a new 125cc motorcycle.
On 23 June 2022, Startup Pakistan shared an image on their Facebook page with text claiming that Suzuki will discontinue the GS150 motorcycle in Pakistan.
According to the caption of the image, Suzuki will discontinue the GS150 motorcycle as part of a wider plan to launch a new 125cc motorcycle.
Fact or Fiction?
According to the Suzuki Pakistan website, the GS150SE is still available for purchase at PKR 249,000. Musa Kazmi, an official who works at Suzuki Motors Walton, Lahore confirmed to Soch Fact Check that no announcement has been made with regards to the introduction of a new 125cc motorcycle or the discontinuation of the GS150. He noted that he has also come across posts carrying the false claim on social media.
Soch Fact Check also got in touch with Shafiq Shaikh, the Head of Public Relations and official spokesman Pak Suzuki Motor Company stationed at their headquarters in Karachi. Shaikh confirmed that the GS150 motorcycle is not being discontinued and a new 125cc motorcycle is not being introduced
Virality
Soch Fact Check conducted a CrowdTangle analysis for the 6-day period from23 June 2022 to 29 June 2022 using the following search terms:
- “Suzuki” “Pakistan” “GS150”
- “Suzuki” “Pakistan” “125cc”
The original post made by Startup Pakistan garnered 10,753 total interactions and reached a total of 1,189,000 Facebook users.
For the first search term, we found similar Facebook posts claiming that the GS150 will be discontinued here, here and here. Two of the three posts shared the same image as Startup Pakistan.
For the second search term, we found a relevant post on the Facebook page of AutoNotch.
Startup Pakistan also shared the image on Instagram, reaching 120,869 Instagram users.
Conclusion: Startup Pakistan shared an image with the claim that the GS150 motorcycle manufactured by Suzuki Pakistan is being discontinued in the country in order to introduce a new 125cc motorcycle. Soch Fact Check confirmed that this is false. Suzuki Pakistan has not announced any plans to discontinue the GS150 motorcycle and introduce a new 125cc motorcycle.
[…] Soch Fact Check has previously found claims by Startup Pakistan to be false and misleading. The relevant fact checks can be read here and here. […]