BIZmotors Micro Cars to produce 15 Rexton SUVs per month Micro Cars Ltd. plans to manufacture fifteen Micro Rexton SUV-Jeeps per month. Sri Lanka's first four-wheel SUV-Jeep 'Micro Rexton: SUV designed and produced by Micro Cars Ltd. was presented to President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees by Dr. Lawrence Perera, Chairman of Micro Cars Ltd.
Parklane UK, a leading investment organisation invested 2 million US$ for the first stage of the Jeep manufacturing project in Sri Lanka. A leading vehicle manufacturer in Korea "Sanyan" which acquired Mercedes Benz know-how and technology from Germany provided the technical assistance to Micro Cars Ltd. for this project.
Sanyan Co. has appointed Micro Cars Ltd. as the SAARC regional four-wheel - SUV-supplier. The company hopes to manufacture fifteen SUV-Jeeps per month in Sri Lanka under the first stage. At present Micro Cars Ltd. produces four models of vehicles, Micro City Car, Micro Hatchback, Micro Mini Van and Micro Rexton SUV at the Pannala and Peliyagoda vehicle manufacturing plants.
Established in 1995 Micro Cars Ltd. is the only automobile manufacturer in Sri Lanka and offers a unique cost effective system for assembling quality cars using local labour and materials.
Created by Dr. Perera, who was an engineer earlier at BMW and Volkswagon, Micro Cars put Sri Lanka on the world map of car manufacturing.
Jiffrey Flannery, CEO of Micro Holdings US Inc. said that Micro Cars has achieved a high level of success in Sri Lanka and has much room to grow in the coming years. At the same time, its unique manufacturing and assembly operation is a model that we believe can be successfully replicated in other developing countries. We look forward to helping Micro Cars expand and succeed in Sri Lanka and the world over, he said.
The Micro Cars facility is labour intensive unlike the US and Western plants that rely on expensive automation and robots.
The system was designed for countries such as Sri Lanka where low labour rates can be matched with a need for high quality inexpensive vehicles. According to Micro Cars, the plant is currently producing about 35-40 cars per month and has the capacity to produce 600 per month.
Micro Cars Ltd. received a purchase order from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka recently for 30 thirty Micro mini vans. The Board of directors comprises Dr. Lawrence Perera, Founder Chairman, Roy de Silva Director, C. P. Guhashanka, Founder Director - marketing and Sabri Wahid - Director Finance and Administration. Acera Geospec the answer to heavy work
The 'Acera Geospec,' the latest in Kobelco excavators is filled with the latest technology three-tier engine which provides 18 per cent lower fuel consumption and 27 per cent higher work volume, said Noel Selvanayagam, President, Senok Group at the launching ceremony at Waters Edge, Battaramulla.
He said that Senok introduced Kobelco 25 years ago and since then the market for Kobelco has grown rapidly.
It has become the number one brand in the industry in Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Kobelco excavators are used in road construction, mining, irrigation, dams, off shore, coast conservation, harbour construction dredging, housing and in many other civil construction projects.
Kobelco Japan and Senok value the customer confidence in Kobelco machinery. The Senok group provides the best after service in terms of investment in spares and services to maintain equipment with minimum down time, he said.
The President presented the first consignment of the Kobelco Acera Geospec, to three customers at the ceremony.
Daily News Steering Column: A great leap forward
It is really a great achievement for Micro Cars to have secured the local assembly rights for the irresistible Ssangyong Rexton and the Kyron. Micro, which started just four years ago, has made vast strides in the field of automobile construction and engineering.
Micro initially faced many obstacles and in fact, there was no provision in our laws to enable the registration of a locally made car. Consumers were also wary of buying a locally made car, fearing that quality and reliability would be below par.
Four years on, Micro has allayed these fears to the point that a well-known manufacturer has entrusted it with the responsibility of manufacturing two best-selling models locally.
All of Micro’s own models are selling well too. The Trend and the all-new MPV van are utterly stylish and practical.
Micro must be lauded for gradually increasing the local content of the cars. The eventual aim is to build a 100 per cent local car, having already surpassed the 40 per cent mark. Micro is also gaining a reputation overseas, with export orders pouring in.
Micro must be given every possible incentive, so that more families could buy a vehicle of their own. Our duty structure is that even with some concessions in place, Micro cannot sell its smallest car for under Rs.600,000.
On the other hand, Indian consumers can buy a Maruti Suzuki 800 for just Indian Rs.250,000 and the all-new Zen, which will be launched here shortly, costs from just Indian Rs.320,000 upwards.
In Sri Lanka, the Maruti 800 costs Rs.800,000 without VAT. A car is within the reach of practically every middle class or lower middle class family in India.
That is the scenario we should aspire to achieve. Micro is already well poised to take that road. It already has a portfolio of products that suits every purse and with further local value addition the prices could be lowered.
The Government should purchase more vehicles from Micro for its Ministries and departments.
It is also time for those politicians who raise a hue and cry over their avowed determination to help local industries to stop buying foreign-made SUVs with their US$ 35,000 vehicle permit and instead opt for a Micro-made SUV, saving foreign exchange.
Micro Cars is certainly Sri Lanka’s pride and joy and all must support it to reach greater horizons.
Major milestone for Micro
Rexton and Kyron assembled locally:
Shirajiv SIRIMANE
If you have recently seen a sudden rise in the number of Ssangyong vehicles on Lankan roads, especially the all-new Kyron and old favourite Rexton, that is because both cars are now built in Sri Lanka.
Micro Kyron
The company behind this Ssangyong success story is Micro Cars, the only car manufacturer in the country.
“My ultimate aim is to produce a 100 percent locally manufactured car in Sri Lanka,” says Chairman Micro Car Pvt. Ltd (MCL) Dr. Lawrence Perera.
Perera said that the first ever Sri Lankan manufactured car named “Micro”, was designed, developed and prototyped locally by Transmec Engineering (Pvt) Ltd., and was officially launched in 2002. Only the four-stroke engine and gearbox are imported from Italy.
“Today we have 52 per cent of local value addition and I want to increase local value addition further,” he said.
The Micro Car Company recently introduced its newest addition, Micro Ssangyong Rexton, presenting the first car to the President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees. “We have sold over 50 units so far and have several exports orders too,” he said.
The prices for the fully loaded vehicles range from Rs.6 Million to Rs.7.5 Million. “This price is almost 40 percent less than the price of an imported SUV and the Government has pledged that they would purchase more vehicles thus saving foreign exchange,” he added.
The body of the vehicle, mirrors, seats, and rubber components including the tires are totally manufactured in Sri Lanka.
“We are now working with several local component manufacturers to achieve quality, to reach a minimum of 40% local value addition. When this is done we will enter Europe through GSP+ program,” he said.
When this is achieved this would be the first time a Sri Lankan manufactured car would be exported to Europe.
He is also looking at introducing a vehicle navigation system to his vehicles and plans tie up with a cellular company for this. “This would enable drivers to find any address or location from a screen,” he said.
With the technical assistance from Ssangyong Korea, Micro Cars Ltd now assembles the “KYRON” and the “REXTON.” These cars use Mercedes Benz licensed engines and auto transmissions.
Park Lane and Ideal Group of the UK are financing this project with an initial investment of US$ 2 Million. Ssangyong Motor Company is the largest SUV manufacturer in Korea.
Both vehicles have state-of-the-art common rail Euro IV turbo inter cooler diesel engines fitted with Mercedes Benz tiptronic fully automatic 5-speed transmission and 4WD system with on the fly selection.
Micro Cars also manufacturers the Micro Privilege, the Micro Trend and the Micro MPV van using well over 37% local value addition.
Micro Cars Ltd is currently negotiating with Nepal and Bangladesh for exports. It has exported sample vehicles to Sudan in December 2006. The project produces 600 cars monthly providing over 3,000 direct jobs and 8,000 indirect jobs.
Daihatsu Drome opens
Sirajiv SIRIMANE
COLOMBO: Uni Walkers Ltd, a subsidiary of Softlogic Holdings Pvt Ltd and authorised distributor and dealer for Daihatsu opened ‘Daihatsu Drome’ a 3S facility (Sales, Service and Spares), on the main trunk route in Rajagiriya.
Softlogic Holdings had invested over Rs. 30 million for upgrading their service centre and the Daihatsu Drome, said Chairman Managing Director, Softlogic Holdings Ashok Pathirage.
He said that this will enable them to provide a more efficient and reliable service for their customers. He said the Government must also re-think their strategy behind imposing high duties for brand new vehicles which he claimed was among the highest in the world.
“For vehicles over 2,000 cc it goes up to over 230 per cent,” he said. In the long run this would encourage more second hand vehicles to enter the market, which would have a negative impact on the environment as well.
He said when they acquired the company it had not sold a brand new vehicle for a long time. “We have already sold over 100 brand new vehicles.” General Manger, Sujeeva Premaratne said Daihatsu being small and economical was a household name a long time ago and they want to restore that image once again.
“We will soon introduce a 24 hour rescue service and open more service centres all over the country,” he said.
This 3S facility is a one-stop location for all Daihatsu customers and provides 100 per cent availability of spare parts for products offered. The product range offered by Daihatsu are the ‘Terios 4x4’ and the ‘Charade’.
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