Micro Cars to invest US $ 6 m to automate PAL
Shirajiv SIRIMANE
Micro Cars Limited will invest US $ 6 million to automate their
production assembly line in the Polgahawela factory and increase
production.
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The Micro Panda assembly line in Polgahawela |
Chairman Micro Cars, Dr. Lawrence Perera told Daily News Business
that this would help them to increase the current production from 300
units per month to 1,200.
He said that the main aim of investing in this production line is to
intensify their exports. “Currently Micro has very firm orders to
Nepal,” he said.
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Chairman Micro Cars,
Dr. Lawrence Perera |
Dr. Perera also said that they have now received orders from both
Pakistan and Bangladesh. “In addition we are very serious about
exporting to India despite competition from other manufactures in
India,” he said.
He said that they would be concentrating on the Micro Sports Utility
Vehicle (SUV) range for exports to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indian
markets since they see a demand for these high end vehicles. He said the
new vehicle tax has encouraged them to produce more vehicles.
Commenting on the local market he said that the Micro Panda vehicle
is in high demand due to its price being less than Rs. 1.5 million and
due to its design, safety and advanced features such as ABS brakes, 1.3
engine and dual air bags. “We will soon launch the new Micro Panda SUV
vehicle for both the local and foreign markets,” he said. This would be
priced around Rs. 1.9 million.
The value addition for these vehicles would be around 35% and the
company is looking at increasing this.
He said that vehicle manufacturing is one of the biggest industries
in the world and the contribution it makes to the GDP is very high.
“With more government long term support this could be applied to Sri
Lanka as well,” he said. Micro Cars also launched a low floor auto
transmission, low emission luxury passenger bus with a Euro three engine
and said that the next phase of this would be to totally manufacture
this bus in Sri Lanka next year.
“This bus could carry 150 passengers,” he said. He said that they
would invest heavily in the local transport sector as the country is now
focusing on improving the fleet of buses to provide a more luxurious
passenger service to the public.
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