Danish Khaliq

VP of Sales and Strategy, Mega Motor Company

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Danish Khaliq is VP of Sales and Strategy at Mega Motor Company. He has been described as a key figure behind HUBCO's entry into Pakistan's electric vehicle ecosystem and as a former Canadian government policy expert. Khaliq studied mathematics at LUMS and operations research at Columbia, and began his career in oil and gas.

Education

Khaliq did his undergraduate degree at LUMS, majoring in Math, and graduated in 2005. He won a Fulbright scholarship within a year of starting work and went to Columbia for his master's, which he began in 2006. His master's degree was in Operations Research, which he describes as optimization that mixes engineering, math and business. [1]

He has said he disliked New York as a tourist but would not change the years he lived there. He lived at International House in New York, which he says had about 180 nationalities. He also completed an MBA before starting his career in Canada. [1]

Early career

Khaliq started his career in oil and gas, first at British Petroleum. He also worked at ENI, an Italian oil and gas company, and began in energy economics. He later returned to Pakistan in 2008 and was asked to rejoin ENI. [1]

His first entry into the power sector came when he joined a consulting firm that served USAID. He later worked independently with ADB. He also worked with Engro while it was launching LNG, where he looked after commodities trading. [1]

Career in Canada

Khaliq started his Canada career at the Ministry of Energy in Ontario, where he set up an internal consulting team. He then worked at a large consulting firm in Canada, focused on the power and energy sector. He lived and worked in Canada for about nine to ten years. [1]

HUBCO and electric vehicles

Khaliq decided to move back to Pakistan first, which he calls a much bolder move. After Canada he did not want to go back into conventional power. He joined Hubco to lead its new ventures division, and has said the role let him look at renewable energy and other clean tech. [1]

He has said he looked at electric vehicles as generating demand, and that one thing his company was looking at was diversifying away from power. He says he started the journey looking at buses, two-wheelers and three-wheelers. He says Hubco worked with BYD, came to an agreement and launched. [1]

He says Hubco Green is a sister concern set up to build EV charging across Pakistan. Charging stations are being built at dealerships and destinations, according to Khaliq. [1]

Mega Motor Company

Khaliq is VP of Sales and Strategy at Mega Motor Company. He says the company is backed by Hubco and by the Mega Conglomerate, owns four dealerships and has a service centre in Lahore. He says it has very aggressive targets for expanding within Pakistan and is looking at electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. [1]

He says the company wanted a product that could move quickly into mass adoption. He also says it launched one variant of the model in Pakistan because it did not want to cheap out. [1]

Views

Khaliq says Pakistan's fuel import bill is between 14 and 16 billion dollars. He estimates that 400,000 electric or plug-in hybrid cars would cut the fuel import bill by at least 400 million dollars. He says EVs cut emissions by 70 to 80 percent compared with a conventional engine vehicle. [1]

On industry and policy, he says localisation would go ahead if the numbers show a business case. He says the export case rests on right-hand drive markets. He says investors need a consistent policy that is not repealed, and that the policy landscape is at a delicate turning point. He also says Pakistan's future depends on action taken now. [1]

Timeline

2005
Graduated from LUMS[1]
2006
Went to Columbia for his master's[1]
2008
Returned to Pakistan and was asked to rejoin ENI[1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2025-06-02 Why BYD priced its Pakistan launch under the hybrid competition Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Danish Khaliq?

Danish Khaliq is VP of Sales and Strategy at Mega Motor Company. He has been described as a key figure behind HUBCO's entry into Pakistan's electric vehicle ecosystem and as a former Canadian government policy expert.[1]

What does Danish Khaliq do?

Danish Khaliq is VP of Sales and Strategy at Mega Motor Company. He says the company is backed by Hubco and by the Mega Conglomerate. He also says it owns four dealerships and has a service centre in Lahore.[1]

Where did Danish Khaliq study?

Danish Khaliq did his undergraduate degree at LUMS, majoring in Math, and graduated in 2005. He went to Columbia in 2006 for a master's degree in Operations Research. He also completed an MBA.[1]

Did Danish Khaliq work in Canada?

Yes. Danish Khaliq started his Canada career at the Ministry of Energy in Ontario and later worked at a large consulting firm focused on the power and energy sector. He lived and worked in Canada for about nine to ten years.[1]

What was Danish Khaliq's role at Hubco?

Danish Khaliq joined Hubco to lead its new ventures division. He has said the role let him look at renewable energy and other clean tech. He also says he looked at electric vehicles as generating demand.[1]

What is Danish Khaliq known for?

Danish Khaliq is known for his role in HUBCO's entry into Pakistan's electric vehicle ecosystem. He is also described as a former Canadian government policy expert. He now serves as VP of Sales and Strategy at Mega Motor Company.[1]

What does Danish Khaliq say about electric vehicles and fuel imports?

Danish Khaliq says Pakistan's fuel import bill is between 14 and 16 billion dollars. He estimates that 400,000 electric or plug-in hybrid cars would cut that bill by at least 400 million dollars. He also says EVs cut emissions by 70 to 80 percent compared with a conventional engine vehicle.[1]

References

  1. Why BYD priced its Pakistan launch under the hybrid competition . Thought Behind Things , 2025-06-02.
Show the source passages (50 statements)
  1. Danish Khaliq is described as a key figure behind HUBCO's entry into Pakistan's EV ecosystem. Joining us today is Danish Khaliq, a key figure behind HUBCO
  2. The episode description calls him a former Canadian government policy expert. a former Canadian government policy expert
  3. He is VP of Sales and Strategy at Mega Motor Company. Danish who is VP of Sales and Strategy at Mega Motors Company.
  4. He did his undergraduate degree at LUMS, majoring in Math. So, I, I did my undergrad from LUMS in Math, not a very popular major, but I ended up doing it.
  5. He graduated in 2005. Yes, I graduated in 2005.
  6. He started his career in oil and gas, first at British Petroleum. I started my career in oil and gas. So, I started working with British Petroleum first
  7. He also worked at ENI, an Italian oil and gas company. then also with ENI, which was an Italian oil and gas company back then.
  8. He started in energy economics. Started in energy economics, very interesting field.
  9. He won a Fulbright scholarship within a year of starting work and went to Columbia for his master's. But within a year, I got the Fulbright scholarship, so I was lucky enough and I went to Columbia for my Masters.
  10. He went to Columbia in 2006. Actually, the year that I was going, that was 2006.
  11. He did a master's degree in Operations Research at Columbia. I did that in Operations Research and then I came back to Pakistan.
  12. He describes Operations Research as optimization that mixes engineering, math and business. So, Operations Research is basically optimization of any kind. So, you know, businesses mein, supply chain mein, and it's a mix between engineering and math, and also business.
  13. He disliked New York as a tourist but says he would not change the years he lived there. And I remember going there as a tourist and I hated the place. But when I went and lived there for a couple of years, I wouldn't change it for anything.
  14. He lived at International House in New York, which he says had about 180 nationalities. Main jis jagah pe rehta tha, uska naam International House tha. Toh you had about 180 nationalities over there.
  15. He started his Canada career at the Ministry of Energy in Ontario. Then I started off my Canada career working for the Ministry of Energy in Ontario over there
  16. He set up an internal consulting team for the Ontario ministry. I basically set up an internal consulting kind of a team for them.
  17. He completed an MBA before starting his career in Canada. First, I did my MBA. Then I started off my Canada career working for the Ministry of Energy in Ontario
  18. He then worked at a large consulting firm in Canada, focused on the power and energy sector. So, I worked for a large consulting firm in, in Canada. And I predominantly focused on the power sector.
  19. He lived and worked in Canada for about nine to ten years. So, I was in Canada for about 10 years, 9 to 10 years.
  20. He was an expert witness for a bridge project before a regulator in Canada. I was an expert witness for a bridge project with the regulator over there.
  21. He worked with the Ministry of Transportation and with indigenous communities in Canada. I worked with the Ministry of Transportation, I worked with the indigenous communities over there.
  22. He joined Hubco to lead its new ventures division. There was this opportunity that came by at Hubco where I was able to lead their new ventures division.
  23. He decided to move back to Pakistan first, which he calls a much bolder move. No, first I made the decision that I wanted to move back. I think that was a much bolder move.
  24. After Canada he did not want to go back into conventional power. I didn't want to get into, you know, like conventional conventional power.
  25. He says the role let him look at renewable energy and other clean tech. I could look at renewable energy, I could look at other clean tech.
  26. He worked with Engro while it was launching LNG. I worked a little bit with Engro. They were launching LNG, this was the first go at launching LNG, so I came in and joined that
  27. At Engro he looked after commodities trading. I looked after some trading, commodities trading, which was also great.
  28. He first entered the power sector by joining a consulting firm that served USAID. I had my first foray into power sector when I joined a consulting firm that was providing services to the USAID.
  29. He later worked independently with ADB. I worked with ADB for a while, independently
  30. He returned to Pakistan in 2008 and was asked to rejoin ENI. I came back in 2008. And I was asked to rejoin ENI, you know, they were doing some exciting stuff.
  31. He says he looked at electric vehicles as generating demand. And I looked at electric vehicles as generating that demand.
  32. He says one thing his company was looking at was diversifying away from power. inherently one thing that we were looking at was diversifying away from power.
  33. He says he started the journey looking at buses, two-wheelers and three-wheelers. I started the journey looking at buses, looking at two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four
  34. He says Hubco worked with BYD, came to an agreement and launched. So, we worked with BYD and then, you know, finally came to an agreement and, and we launched.
  35. He says the company wanted a product that could move quickly into mass adoption. So, we wanted to get into a product that could quickly move into mass adoption, right?
  36. He says the company launched one variant of the model in Pakistan because it did not want to cheap out. Pakistan ke andar humne ek variant launch kiya for this model, for exactly that reason, because we did not want to cheap out.
  37. He says Hubco Green is a sister concern set up to build EV charging across Pakistan. we have a sister concern called Hubco Green, which is tasked with setting up electric charging infrastructure all over Pakistan
  38. He says charging stations are being built at dealerships and destinations. Hum apne charging stations humne apni dealerships pe bhi lagaye hain, hum destinations pe bhi laga rahe hain
  39. He says the company owns four dealerships and has a service centre in Lahore. Humne apni chaar khud dealerships kholi hain apni and we have one additional care center that we have opened up in Lahore.
  40. He says Pakistan's fuel import bill is between 14 and 16 billion dollars. is waqt hamara fuel import bill is anywhere between 14 to 16 billion dollars, right?
  41. He estimates 400,000 electric or plug-in hybrid cars would cut the fuel import bill by at least 400 million dollars. 400,000 vehicles that are electric or plug-in hybrids would mean ke aapka 400 million dollar se kam az kam import bill gir jayega.
  42. He says EVs cut emissions by 70 to 80 percent compared with a conventional engine vehicle. toh 70 to 80% reduction hai in emissions from a conventional engine-based vehicle.
  43. He says the company has very aggressive targets for expanding within Pakistan. we have very aggressive targets of, you know, expanding within Pakistan
  44. He says Mega Motor Company is backed by Hubco and by the Mega Conglomerate. MMC, the Mega Motor Company, is not only backed by Hubco, but it's also backed by Mega Conglomerate.
  45. He says the company is looking at electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. we are certainly looking at electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
  46. He says localisation would go ahead if the numbers show a business case. If we can show the numbers, then certainly there is a business case ke hum un cheezon ko bhi localize karenge.
  47. He says the export case rests on right-hand drive markets. export ka bilkul potential exist karta hai for the right-hand drive market
  48. He says investors need a consistent policy that is not repealed. what you need is consistency in policy. You don't want policies to be repealed or
  49. He says the policy landscape is at a delicate turning point. ek nazuk morh pe hai is waqt policy
  50. He says Pakistan's future depends on action taken now. 2050 doesn't exist if we don't do something about it right now.