Demand for reconditioned vehicles to increase

Anuradha Kodagoda

Reconditioned vehicle importers anticipate an increase in demand for reconditioned vehicles in the coming months.

Compared to last year, there was 50 percent drop in demand in the reconditioned auto mobile market during the first six months of this year according to Ishara Traders Pvt Ltd. Senior Manager Chandana Siriwardena.

“However, due to the ongoing development projects that are being implemented with the dawn of peace in the country, there is an increase in demand especially for commercial vehicles in the Northern and Uva provinces.

Upto last year there was a huge demand for Toyota vehicles but now that trend has changed and the demand for Suzuki commercial trucks and vans has increased due to price constraints. The demand for Chinese vehicles had also fallen.

We expect a growth in the reconditioned vehicle market during the next few months,” Siriwardena said.

“Compared to the past few months there is a significant increase in demand for reconditioned vehicles. Unlike earlier days the demand for higher value vehicles today is quite low. People go for small cars in the price range of Rs. 1.5 million or below,” said the General Manager-Marketing Indra Traders, Dharma Ilangasinghe.

“During the past six months the demand was extremely low mainly due to the economic recession. However, the trend is changing slightly and there is an increase in demand especially for commercial vehicles. We expect a growth in reconditioned automobiles as well with the boom of the economy,” Ilangasinghe said.

“The automobile industry in the world has been adversely affected due to the global financial crisis. Compared to last year there is a huge drop in demand in the reconditioned vehicle market in the country.

Considering the current economic situation in the world, we converted our main business from importing reconditioned vehicles to importing automobile body components to sustain in the business,” said Japan Lanka Auto Land (Pvt) Ltd, Marketing Head, Lindsay White.

“There is a demand for spare parts and body components in Sri Lanka but it is not a lucrative market compared to the reconditioned automobile market”, White said.