Expecting a positive response:

Micro eyes African market

Shirajiv SIRIMANE

MIRCO is exploring possibilities to export their cars and vans to the African region by the end of the year.

Sri Lanka’s only car manufacturer Dr. Lawrence Perera said some models have been already sent to Africa.

“We are expecting a positive response soon,” he said. Dr. Perera said they had received overseas orders. “However we were unable to pursue them since we could not meet the local demand,” he said.

The car manufacturing process has been intensified and today the local value addition for vehicles has increased to almost 60 per cent.

However the company is not in a position to manufacture engines and the transmission since they are not mass scale manufacturers.

Asked if they are going to manufacture motor bicycles he answered in the negative.

The world is now moving towards sports utility vehicles and to meet this demand we have decided to assemble Kyron and Rexton with a Korean company, and the company was also pursuing overseas orders but was unable once again to meet the local demand.

“I am also thankful to the Government for taking an initiative to promote these SUV’s among Government officials,” he said. By this exercise the Government is saving almost 40 per cent from importing vehicles.

There is a new trend among the youth to purchase these vehicles. He said that they are making arrangements to re-launch the Micro Car with a new look.

“We are also tying up with Cey-Nor Foundation to manufacture composite bodies,” he said.

He also said that he does not like to discuss politics because it’s a waste of time, money, and energy.

He also set up the BMW facility in Sri Lanka.

New Volkswagen series in Sri Lanka

The newest series of Volkswagens carrying the new TDI and FSI technological marvels that ensure solidity, power, passenger safety and comfort are now in Sri Lanka, and Senok is proud to introduce the latest addition of all new models to the Sri Lankan roads.

Among the series, there are three passenger cars, one shuttle transporter and two commercial purpose vehicles all carrying TDI technology. These include the Volkswagen Betle, Polo, Golf, Jetta and Passat, together with the SUV Touareg.

The Touareg five seater SUV powered by 3.2L V6 petrol engine and 2.5L TDI diesel engines, while the new Passat energised with 1.6L and 2.0L FSI (Fuel Stratified Injection) Petrol engines and 2.0L TDI diesel engines.

The Golf comes with the engine capacity of 1.4L and 1.6L and Golf GTI with power packed 2.0L turbo petrol engine. While the new Jetta with the engine capacity of 1.6L & 2.0L petrol and 2.0L diesel.

The Transporter Shuttle is for convenient group journeys. The new Transporter 2WD and 4WD with 1.9L and 2.5L TDI diesel and the new Crafter with 2.5L diesel are mainly for commercial goods transport.

These two varieties are widely in demand by Government and Private sector institutions for heavy-duty diverse, multi-purpose transport solutions.

Senok Trade Combine, after it received the Volkswagen franchise from its parent company in Germany has recently opened its spacious new showroom at Colombo 3 to serve Volkswagen customers better.

The Company is in the verge finalising the launch of another mega showroom at Orugodawatta, which has easy access to our prospective customers throughout the Island.

Senok maintains its modern state of the art workshop including, on-line diagnosis system to find any defects and a modern paint booth at Wattala that is well equipped with hi-tech tools to carry out any kind of repair.

Spare parts and other accessories are freely available at this workshop and with the other authorised dealers islandwide.

“We are confident the vehicles will continue to sell successfully, given that they combine the best diesel technology in the world with relatively competitive prices,” Reeza Rauf, General Manager, Senok said.

The 1,000,000th Car of Chery is about to roll out

The 1,000,000th car of Chery is planned to roll out in late August. Chery will become the first Chinese brand to have an overall output of more than 1,000,000 cars in Chinese auto history and is another Chinese car manufacturer on the threshold of promotion to the ‘One Million Cars Club’ after Shanghai VW, FAW VW, Shanghai GM and Guangzhou Honda.

From the first Fulwin rolled off the assembly line on December 18th 1999 to March 2006, the 500,000th Chery - the A5 was produced.

Now in August 2007, the 1,000,000th car will come out taking just 93 months for the Chery to achieve its 1,000,000 cars from 0.

However, for the other joint ventures that entered the “One Million Cars Club”, it took them more than 10 years at most, or 96 months at least.

From Fulwin and QQ at the earliest stage to Tiggo and A5, then to A1 launched in April this year, within 10 years, the 10 series of products of Chery play important roles in their market segments.

Moreover, in the core field of engine, Chery has successfully developed the first Chinese independent engine-ACTECO, and formed a series of product platforms on large scale, not only installed on and supporting its own products, but also sold to Fiat and exported to North America, thus becoming the core power for Chery’s sustainable development.

Viewing from the structure of the one million cars, the overseas sales accounts for about 13%, which will become larger along with Chery’s joining hands with Chrysler and Quantum. Chery has already accomplished its growth pole’s allocation for the next round.

In the future, one million will become a watershed in the development of Chinese auto industry. Leaving Chery with the pathfinders role of breaking new ground and creating new records in Chinese auto history, a company official said.

David Pieris company is the local agent for the product.

Small-car project running slow, will pick up speed: Ratan Tata

The ambitious Rs 100,000 car project of Tata Motors is running behind schedule, but Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata hopes that it would achieve top speed to make up for lost time.

“The project is getting delayed,” Tata told reporters on the sidelines of Tata Tea’s 44th annual general meeting.

But he hopes there would be no time overrun in the project - whose first car is expected to be rolled out in the second half of 2008. “I do not want to give the feeling that the project itself is getting delayed, but we will use our capability to overcome the delay,” Tata said.

Asked to give a date for the roll out due to the delay, Tata said that he did not want to give a specific date.

“There are vested interests working and we do not want to give a date,” he said. Tata also said that he would like to visit to Singur.

Test-marketing phase now over:

Indian electric-car maker gears up for global market

At first sight, it looks like a toy car that has grown big on steroids, but a closer look at the two-door hatchback reveals a cable connecting it to a power outlet in a Bangalore shopping mall car park.

Some 2,000 of these zero-polluting city commuters have been put on the roads in India and Europe, including 600 in London, in the six years since Reva Electric Car Co. turned commercial.

The test-marketing phase is now over and the Reva, as the electric car is known, is ready to leap into the mass market for environment-friendly vehicles, said Chetan Maini, deputy chairman and chief technical officer.

The Bangalore-based company hopes to sell 3,000 units this year and 30,000 next, said the 37-year-old mechanical engineer in an interview.

“In the last five years, we innovated and improved and developed the core technologies,” said Maini, who studied in Michigan and Stanford universities. “We got the partners and we got the funds.

“Everything has been coming together and we have reached an inflection point to take off,” said Maini, who developed the no-clutch, no-gears car as the head of a 75-member team of research engineers.

The company is counting on increasing environmental and energy concerns to power its growth at home and abroad, as soaring petrol prices and pollution worries prompt consumers in the cities to seek alternatives.

“People are now making choices based on such issues,” said Maini, who was project leader for the hybrid electric car at Stanford and a team leader of the Michigan solar car team that won the GM Sun Race.

“Oil is near 80 dollars a barrel, may even touch 100, and inner-city pollution is a serious issue,” he added. “Energy security and environment are going to be the major issues facing every country in the coming years.”

The New Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment says India needs to “reinvent the idea of mobility” as cities turn into smoke-encased enclaves because of “killer pollution” caused by vehicular emissions.

One often-quoted anecdote says even a non-smoker ends up inhaling the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes by breathing the air of India’s cities, where the number of cars sold is forecast by US consultancy Keystone to rise to 20 million by 2030 from one million in 2003.