This prompted me to look at the cars available locally and their prices (at least according to PakWheels).
I only looked at SUVs / Crossovers to keep things simple and I broke it down by segment to get a better idea of how Japanese makers compare to Koreans and Chinese.
TL;DR is that the Chinese are indeed cheaper in almost every comparison and even when they come close to the Japanese makers in terms of price, they offer significantly more safety and convenience features as well which absolutely justify them being priced that much closer.
B Segment
In this segment, Honda is the only Japanese manufacturer and only the BR-V is priced below the highest MSRP Chinese vehicle. The H-RV is significantly more expensive compared to the Koreans and the Chinese competitors while famously being stripped of features.
Honda BR-V (PKR 6,300,000)
Honda HR-V (PKR 7,650,000 / PKR 7,900,000)
Peugeot 2008 (PKR 6,950,000 / PKR 7,700,000)
Kia Stonic (PKR 5,350,000 / PKR 6,280,000)
MG ZS (not available anymore, last price PKR 5,180,000)
Chery Tiggo 4 Pro (PKR 6,900,000)
C Segment:
This segment has the most competition, and Toyota is the only Japanese maker here but they're offering 4 variants of the Corolla Cross.
The cheapest, most stripped down variant of Corolla Cross is more expensive than every other Chinese model in this segment, while also being smaller. The cheapest HEV variant of Corolla Cross is more expensive than the Chinese HEV and BEV models on offer that also have significantly more features than the Corolla Cross.
Even top of the line variants of Corolla Cross don't compare feature-wise with the Chinese models on offer while being significantly more expensive.
Koreans are a somewhat better comparison here because they're only slightly more expensive than the Chinese models, even if they're a generation older and lacking in terms of features. You can be sure that as soon as KIA Lucky or Hyundai Nishat offer CKD variants of latest Sportage and Tuscon, they'd cost more than the Corolla Cross variants.
Corolla Cross (PKR 8,200,000 / PKR 8,900,000)
Corolla Cross HEV (PKR 9,400,000 / PKR 9,850,000)
Kia Sportage (PKR 7,300,000 / PKR 7,740,000 / PKR 8,470,000 / PKR 9,000,000)
Hyundai Tuscon (PKR 7,165,000 / PKR 8,030,000 / PKR 8,659,000)
Proton X70 (PKR 8,800,000 / PKR 9,300,000)
MG HS (PKR 7,200,000 / PKR 8,100,000)
HAVAL Jolion (PKR 8,028,500)
Seres 3 (PKR 8,390,000)
HAVAL Jolion HEV (PKR 9,295,000)
"Almost D" Segment:
I broke these out separately because these are almost as big as the D segment cars but are officially marketed as C+ segment (which doesn't exist).
Honda had the CBU variant of CR-V in this tier but that was a while ago and nothing has replaced that. You can be sure that given Honda's pricing of the Civic, a CKD variant would've been north of PKR 10,000,000 even if it got stripped of features.
Similarly, the Hyundai has the Ioniq 5 in here but it is also CBU so it's price may come down PKR 2-4 million if they ever want to launch a somewhat localized CKD variant.
Otherwise, this segment is dominated by the Sazgar in particular and because of non-existent competition and popularity of the H6 locally, their prices are slightly higher than what you'd expect.
BJ40 Plus is notable here for being the first actual body-on-frame SUV so far, making it the cheapest available as well.
Honda CR-V (not available anymore, last price PKR 10,700,000)
Hyundai Ioniq 5 BEV (CBU PKR 22,500,000)
HAVAL H6 (PKR 9,190,000 / PKR 10,553,500)
HAVAL H6 HEV (PKR 11,866,500)
BIAC BJ40 Plus (PKR 11,995,200)
D Segment:
This segment has the first Japanese body-on-frame SUV in the forever popular Fortuner. It's also rather unique in this category because there isn't a real competitor here in this category because everything else is a crossover.
Since Santa Fe is only offered as a hybrid, Sorento is the only Korean option here that can compete on price. It sits in between the Oshan X7 and the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro in terms of pricing, which is fine in my opinion even if I'd never consider buying the Sorento because of how outdated and lacking it is.
The Glory 580 is an odd one and I don't understand why DFSK markets it as a D Segment when it should've been a "C+" vehicle considering it never looks as big compared to others in the list.
Still, it's clear to see that Chinese are offering significantly more features while undercutting the price of the competition in this segment as well.
Toyota Fortuner (PKR 14,500,000 / PKR 17,000,000 / PKR 18,000,000 / PKR 19,000,000 / PKR 19,900,000)
Kia Sorento (PKR 9,000,000 / PKR 9,250,000 / PKR 9,500,000)
Hyundai Santa Fe HEV (PKR 12,990,000 / PKR 14,700,000)
Oshan X7 (PKR 8,300,000 / PKR 8,950,000)
Chery Tiggo 8 Pro (PKR 9,550,000)
DFSK Glory 580 (PKR 5,610,000 / PKR 5,806,000 / PKR 6,790,000)
F Segment:
Finally, the F Segment. I'm only including this here for the sake of completeness and because Sazgar / GWM is now offering a Chinese alternative in this segment in the form of the Tank 500. It's CBU only for now but so are the Prado and LC 300.
Here the Tank 500 undercuts both quite significantly while being as big as the LC 300.
Land Cruiser Prado (booking on hold, last price PKR 59,109,000 / PKR 67,249,000 / PKR 95,579,000)
Land Cruiser J300 (PKR 120,000,000)
Tank 500 (PKR 45,000,000)