Micro Cars

[Supra_Natural]

But I just noticed that this "landwind" thing looks a LOT like the Vauxhall Frontera from the 1990's...... Licensed? or a Straight rip off as usual?? 'cos the Frontera was never BAD in safety tests......

[tuk tuk]

But I just noticed that this "landwind" thing looks a LOT like the Vauxhall Frontera from the 1990's...... Licensed? or a Straight rip off as usual?? 'cos the Frontera was never BAD in safety tests......

Rip off for sure, the Chinese never pay good money for something they can get for free.

btw: Link to smart car crash test. Smart cars look so bloody unsafe but compare to that chinese car this plastic-panelled-lawn-mower-of-a-car-thing held up really well.

[Supra_Natural]

Rip off for sure, the Chinese never pay good money for something they can get for free.

btw: Link to smart car crash test. Smart cars look so bloody unsafe but compare to that chinese car this plastic-panelled-lawn-mower-of-a-car-thing held up really well.

the Smart was actually very thoroughly engineered with it's "Tridion" Safety cell and composite panels... Not to mention the lessons learned from the A class debacle

btw, it turns out that subsequent to This particular test, the Jiangling PR spin doctors went into overdrive mode, accused the test of not being legitimate, and then produced ANOTHER test (at a lower speed) that showed that the thing was perfectly safe!!!!

http://www.china.org.cn/english/2005/Oct/144289.htm

note the website as well

another thing the Chinese are VERY good at, is blaming other people for their mistakes!!!!!!

Edited February 14, 2007 by Supra_Natural

[Devinda_Z]

typical sad lankan context - i saw 4 of those inferenam chinese pieces of trash being drives all across town - so based on this whole price elasticity busniess which is justified by é ludicous tax rates, i foresee many stupid n unsuspecting Lankans buying é "Landwind" or wut ever those things are

as for looks it's rear quarter does draw fron é Isuzu Mú Wizard (a.k.a. Fronterra) & e front end has similarities to é old Jeep Grand CHerokkes of é mid/late 90's....

[Saturn]

typical sad lankan context - i saw 4 of those inferenam chinese pieces of trash being drives all across town - so based on this whole price elasticity busniess which is justified by é ludicous tax rates, i foresee many stupid n unsuspecting Lankans buying é "Landwind" or wut ever those things are

as for looks it's rear quarter does draw fron é Isuzu Mú Wizard (a.k.a. Fronterra) & e front end has similarities to é old Jeep Grand CHerokkes of é mid/late 90's....

potential customers should be made to watch the video before purchasing the landwind.

i hope nobody attempts to import them here!!

[gpmac]

Is the Rexton the one that is sold for 7mill, I guess it will be competing with the Indian and Chinese models and it should fair well in that comparison

[GTAm]

Is the Rexton the one that is sold for 7mill, I guess it will be competing with the Indian and Chinese models and it should fair well in that comparison

No the quality is close to Japanese. Mind you the Prado and Montero are a lot more expensive and they are Petrol. This is a TDI with Mercedes tech so I think it's good value if you can get past the looks.

[Gummybr]

No the quality is close to Japanese. Mind you the Prado and Montero are a lot more expensive and they are Petrol. This is a TDI with Mercedes tech so I think it's good value if you can get past the looks.

Maybe if you look at it from the Japanese market vehicles. But this is Korean so you have to compare them with the Korean vehicles - take the Sportage & Tuscon against the Kyron (or what ever). In diesel form they are quite the same in price (ok the Kyron may have a merc engine but otherwise it should be all the same when it comes to build quality). Merc doesn't do the interior or exterior (though according to the catalogue it looks as if its taken from a Merc - design wise) or quality. So its basically a Korean vehicle with a German engine.

So is the price right for the vehicle?? Value for money I say yes, but I'll look at other Korean and then decide cos I dont have much faith in the brand as it is not a well known or fast moving brand.

Other than that I'll wait for Micro to establish themselves in the Local SUV market before going ahead.

This is my true and honest feeling, so dont take me bad.

[gpmac]

The Rexton of course would be more similar to the Hyundai Santa Fe more than the Sportage, so in that sense looking at the specs it is value for money, so it should be a good seller for this company

[GTAm]

Maybe if you look at it from the Japanese market vehicles. But this is Korean so you have to compare them with the Korean vehicles - take the Sportage & Tuscon against the Kyron (or what ever). In diesel form they are quite the same in price (ok the Kyron may have a merc engine but otherwise it should be all the same when it comes to build quality). Merc doesn't do the interior or exterior (though according to the catalogue it looks as if its taken from a Merc - design wise) or quality. So its basically a Korean vehicle with a German engine.

So is the price right for the vehicle?? Value for money I say yes, but I'll look at other Korean and then decide cos I dont have much faith in the brand as it is not a well known or fast moving brand.

Other than that I'll wait for Micro to establish themselves in the Local SUV market before going ahead.

This is my true and honest feeling, so dont take me bad.

Sure mate. I fully see your point. I would not buy for my personal use as I won't be able to live with those looks and I really am not at all into SUVs/Offroaders, unless it's for "OFFROADING".

The point is any other Diesel needs a permit. These two you can buy off the shelf. Anyone can buy.

The Kyron is bigger than the Sportage. And the Rexton even bigger. Kyron 6 mill. Rexton 7.5 mill. They are loaded with kit. 18" alloys that even a Montero cannot match. Five link rear sus, wishbones at the front. Not bad you have to admit.

But if I was the decision maker at a company which is looking for vehicles for their directors I'd seriously consider these as they are great value and I want to support Sri Lankan industry.

[madmax]

Sure mate. I fully see your point. I would not buy for my personal use as I won't be able to live with those looks and I really am not at all into SUVs/Offroaders, unless it's for "OFFROADING".

The point is any other Diesel needs a permit. These two you can buy off the shelf. Anyone can buy.

The Kyron is bigger than the Sportage. And the Rexton even bigger. Kyron 6 mill. Rexton 7.5 mill. They are loaded with kit. 18" alloys that even a Montero cannot match. Five link rear sus, wishbones at the front. Not bad you have to admit.

But if I was the decision maker at a company which is looking for vehicles for their directors I'd seriously consider these as they are great value and I want to support Sri Lankan industry.

Considering the short period of time, I've seen a large number of Kyrons on the road...

[Devinda_Z]

é Rexton actually seems like a vERY sensisble as a company car purchase

& yes they seem to be selling - cuz just today between colombo - nugegoda n mount i spotted 4 of é new Rextons - most with é numberplates in laminated cardboard still

& sadly é "Landwind" does have a local importer!! - if i'm not mistaken its a subsidiary of the new Fiat agents...not too sure though...

[Gummybr]

Sure mate. I fully see your point. I would not buy for my personal use as I won't be able to live with those looks and I really am not at all into SUVs/Offroaders, unless it's for "OFFROADING".

The point is any other Diesel needs a permit. These two you can buy off the shelf. Anyone can buy.

The Kyron is bigger than the Sportage. And the Rexton even bigger. Kyron 6 mill. Rexton 7.5 mill. They are loaded with kit. 18" alloys that even a Montero cannot match. Five link rear sus, wishbones at the front. Not bad you have to admit.

But if I was the decision maker at a company which is looking for vehicles for their directors I'd seriously consider these as they are great value and I want to support Sri Lankan industry.

No man what I mean is they should have priced it a little lower, not that a diesel at that price is not affordable. Give the country men something at a lesser price. Look I think the DIesel Tuscon advertised in the Mot*rM*g should be around 6.9mil (I'm presuming) so that means without duty the Kyron should be priced for less.

And Madmax you what you have seen on the road are the Rextons. I'm yet to see the Kyron driven by someone.

[GTAm]

é Rexton actually seems like a vERY sensisble as a company car purchase

& yes they seem to be selling - cuz just today between colombo - nugegoda n mount i spotted 4 of é new Rextons - most with é numberplates in laminated cardboard still

& sadly é "Landwind" does have a local importer!! - if i'm not mistaken its a subsidiary of the new Fiat agents...not too sure though...

Sorry for my ignorance but what is the Landwind?

[GTAm]

No man what I mean is they should have priced it a little lower, not that a diesel at that price is not affordable. Give the country men something at a lesser price. Look I think the DIesel Tuscon advertised in the Mot*rM*g should be around 6.9mil (I'm presuming) so that means without duty the Kyron should be priced for less.

And Madmax you what you have seen on the road are the Rextons. I'm yet to see the Kyron driven by someone.

Again those come at that price because of permits. Of course you are free to buy that Tucson which is better looking though smaller. The Kyron should be better offroad as well because of the ladder frame chassis. Tucson is most certainly monocoque. Also it has switchable 4WD.

And considering the size of the Kyron and the equipment I think its good value. These Ssangyongs look good value only because they are diesels. If they were petrol they would not be good value against other rivals with or without duty. Mind you SKD still attracts govt. duty. Then again tell me what doesn't. So actually its only with the Tucson that you won't pay duty since you have a permit. Only the cost of the permit which will be less that import+excise duty.

You can also blame it on the size of the Micro operation. You need to produce thousands to get the price down.

All in all I think its great that we have locally assembled vehicles. And it deserves the full support of all of us including this freakin government.

[Supra_Natural]

Sorry for my ignorance but what is the Landwind?

The Landwind is made by Jiangling Motor's of china, it looks like a early 90's Isuzu MU/Vauxhall Frontera with a different grille..... Probably the chinese doing their favourite task...... Straight rip off of other people's design.... It has apparently scored Zero in euro crash tests..... Typical piece of C**P

[Lucian Devotta]

I'm a Sri Lankan and proud to be one. However this flabbergastardly stupid country does not respect its own peolple and values. I think the local manufacturer should have been given the fullest support which he did not get.

This opportunity is gone. However it's not too late to stand up. When the next idea comes up to support the people stiving to be different for a worthy cause.

We bost about a heritage of 2000+ years. but NZ is some 150+ years and it is a zillion times advanced than us. Sadistically there are Sri Lankans in NZ doing proud to NZ. But weren't they in SL at some time in life. Then where has it gone wrong?

We fought against slavery and got independence. What for? today we welcomely kiss white's As.. in our own soil

Wake up guys it's our country.

[madmax]

And Madmax you what you have seen on the road are the Rextons. I'm yet to see the Kyron driven by someone.

No They were definitely Kyrons.

[miniace]

I'm a Sri Lankan and proud to be one. However this flabbergastardly stupid country does not respect its own peolple and values. I think the local manufacturer should have been given the fullest support which he did not get.

This opportunity is gone. However it's not too late to stand up. When the next idea comes up to support the people stiving to be different for a worthy cause.

We bost about a heritage of 2000+ years. but NZ is some 150+ years and it is a zillion times advanced than us. Sadistically there are Sri Lankans in NZ doing proud to NZ. But weren't they in SL at some time in life. Then where has it gone wrong?

We fought against slavery and got independence. What for? today we welcomely kiss white's As.. in our own soil

Wake up guys it's our country.

Hi Lucian my school mate ! welcome to the forum and good thoughts you carry! cheers machan! where are you now? where is your 128?

MINIACE

[Gummybr]

Again those come at that price because of permits. Of course you are free to buy that Tucson which is better looking though smaller. The Kyron should be better offroad as well because of the ladder frame chassis. Tucson is most certainly monocoque. Also it has switchable 4WD.

And considering the size of the Kyron and the equipment I think its good value. These Ssangyongs look good value only because they are diesels. If they were petrol they would not be good value against other rivals with or without duty. Mind you SKD still attracts govt. duty. Then again tell me what doesn't. So actually its only with the Tucson that you won't pay duty since you have a permit. Only the cost of the permit which will be less that import+excise duty.

You can also blame it on the size of the Micro operation. You need to produce thousands to get the price down.

All in all I think its great that we have locally assembled vehicles. And it deserves the full support of all of us including this freakin government.

Maybe correct, but how are they going to export them to other countries with that sort of price??

[Devinda_Z]

Maybe correct, but how are they going to export them to other countries with that sort of price??

maybe they wont get taxed in the same way if its considered as entrepot trade ?

[GTAm]

maybe they wont get taxed in the same way if its considered as entrepot trade ?

Absolutely correct.

[gpmac]

Talked to someone who worked at micro cars and apparently there is a lot of interest in their SUV models so they might design more models in the future, it would be grt if they would make a smaller SUV in the mold of the RAV4 but slightly smaller that that cuss the RAV4 seems to be getting bigger and bigger each year, maybe for about 3mill+ micro can design a mini SUV with a petrol and diesel engine where the customer can decide what he wants

[GTAm]

Talked to someone who worked at micro cars and apparently there is a lot of interest in their SUV models so they might design more models in the future, it would be grt if they would make a smaller SUV in the mold of the RAV4 but slightly smaller that that cuss the RAV4 seems to be getting bigger and bigger each year, maybe for about 3mill+ micro can design a mini SUV with a petrol and diesel engine where the customer can decide what he wants

It's simply that they have had to rely on the Ssangyong platforms. That's why the range is so small. If they tie up with bigger manufacturer then we might get cars as well.

I think a Mazda 3 size saloon with a 2.0 TDi engine and a Fiat Panda sized hatch with a 1.5 TDI would be great for SL.

[mazdaspeed]

I'm a Sri Lankan and proud to be one. However this flabbergastardly stupid country does not respect its own peolple and values. I think the local manufacturer should have been given the fullest support which he did not get.

We fought against slavery and got independence. What for? today we welcomely kiss white's As.. in our own soil

Wake up guys it's our country.

I hear U Lucian…. I’ve been thinking da same…. Our guys forget the mother tough the moment they set foot in a English speaking country ( Called Coconut’s in UK- brown on the outside and white inside…..

It’s pathetic… No 1 gives a shit when we are in this country…. Most run after the white ass and when we go there …. They don’t give a shit abt us…. Where do we belong…..??

It’ s great if we can help Micro by giving them a helping hand ( By da blooming Government ) Saw the small van today…. Looks nice just like the Suzuki Every and all that small mini vans…. I rather see our cars than crappy Indian shit on the road….true we can’t take on the Japanese manufactures head on right now… but Indians…. Come on…