DRIVE

Nano manufacturing at Singur to start in Q4

Tata Motors expects to start manufacturing of its much-hyped mini car Nano at Singur in the fourth quarter of this calendar year.

The high volumes of Nano is expected to dramatically change Tata Motors' market position, reach and visibility, said company chairman Ratan Tata in the latest annual report. The Singur manufacturing facilities would be expanded to meet domestic and global demand in the future.

Tata's expectation comes amidst the widespread concern about the performance of commercial vehicles and passenger cars in the near future due to higher fuel prices, increased raw material costs and rising interest rates. Tata Motors, the country's largest truck maker, is working on new variants of the world's cheapest car Nano to overcome challenges posed by high fuel prices, which could negatively impact vehicle sales, Tata said. Tata Motors has also started developing new variants of Nano to meet environmental and fuel price challenges, as also market requirements of several international markets. The move comes in the run-up to the scheduled roll out of the gasoline-powered Nano from Singur.

The Economic Times

Rent-a- car association formed

Anjana Samarasinghe

Major players in the local motor vehicle rental industry have formed an association to promote and develop rent a car business in the country.

Speaking to Daily News Business the President of the Rent-a-car Association Kishan Perera said the main objectives of this association is to increase the standards in the industry and to lay down a code of conduct and ethics for maintaining discipline among its members. "Basically we need to have closer relationship with government institutes, other stakeholders in the industry and create better recognition for the industry. "This association will also help members to share information and take necessary steps to protect the interests of the members and the industry as a whole", he said. "We expect to maintain closer relationships with Sri Lanka Tourist Board ,Ministry of Transport, local Hoteliers, inbound travel operators and rent-a -car bodies in the other countries. At the moment the association is making arrangements to set up guidelines on service quality, safety and after sales service.

The association will monitor all the members through independent bodies. The association will also take necessary action against members who disregard these guidelines", he said.

Local motor vehicle rental industry plays a pivotal role in the tourism industry and it also brings a considerable amount of foreign exchange to the country. High fuel prices, high import duties imposed on brand new luxury cars and less tourist arrivals and the fluctuations in the exchange rates badly impact the industry.

'Due to high operational costs it is very difficult for rent-a-car operators' to maintain international standards in the local industry. Normally rent- a- car companies go for hire purchasing or lease purchasing of cars. There should be flexible financing methods or duty concessions on purchasing cars for this industry. Rent a car operators need to have special insurance packages too," he said. This association will enable operators to lobby for these issues as a well recognised body in the industry.

The association also expects to set up a mechanism to collect complaints of the clients. There is a large amount of rent- a- car operators in the country. Any operator who wants to become a member of the new association needs to meet certain requirements.

The association consists of Denshi Rent- A -Car, Casons Rent- A -Car, V.S Rent -A-Car, Malkey Rent -A -Car, Lanka Quality Marking Services,Kings Rent -A -Car, International Marketing Services, Lespri Enterprises, Autoway Enterprises and Ameri Source Alliance Rent A Car .

Fuel prices make Suzuki Maruti popular

Associated Motorways Limited, importer and distributor of motor vehicles in Sri Lanka have come forward to provide their customers with optimum savings on every drop of fuel consumed. AMW has already introduced several new models of Suzuki Maruti vehicles with optimum fuel efficiency to the market, giving the customers maximum value for the money they spend on fuel. The Suzuki Maruti Economy Challenge motor rally was held in 2007 with the intention of drawing the attention of the public to that fact, and prove the claim of fuel saving.

The Suzuki Maruti Sales Manager of AMW Viran de Soyza said, "It was proved beyond doubt at the AMW Economy Challenge Rally that the Suzuki Maruti was the car that is capable of going the most distance with the least amount of fuel. The Rally was organised and judged by the Ceylon Motor Sports Club. We were able to demonstrate the solutions we offer today's vehicle owners of Sri Lanka facing difficulties due to the high cost of fuel through highly fuel-efficient Suzuki Maruti cars. We are in possession of a certificate issued by the Panel of Judges at that Rally, certifying the distances Suzuki Maruti cars were driven under special rally conditions.

According to the data revealed at the Rally, these distances are comparatively far greater than the distances recorded by vehicles of other makes.

So we are able to convince our customers without any fear that we are in a position to add value to the money they are investing on Suzuki Maruti vehicles."

Another specialty pertaining to Suzuki Maruti cars is that buying a Suzuki Maruti car is a valuable investment. Among the fuel-efficient vehicles in Sri Lanka today, Suzuki Maruti vehicles take the forefront. In the used car market in Sri Lanka today, Suzuki Maruti cars have taken the lead automatically making the money the customer pays for a Suzuki Maruti vehicle a valuable investment.

Associated Motorways has displayed these super fuel efficient cars with worldwide acceptance manufactured with superior Japanese technology in their showrooms enabling the customer to buy them with confidence to face the escalating fuel prices.