Zoyte To Assemble Vehicles In Lanka

[maliths]

Zoyte to assemble vehicles in Lanka

Hiran H.Senewiratne

######## Lanka Plc (UML) has been awarded the approval for a vehicle assembly plant from a leading Chinese vehicle manufacturer/ exporter Zoyte.

The company is now in the process of awaiting domestic institution approvals to go ahead with the project, UML Chief Executive Officer Shanaka Yatawara told Daily News Business.

Zoyte one of the leading small car and medium sized jeep manufactures and exporters in China have principally given the approval for the assembly plant in Sri Lanka.

Speaking to Daily News Business he said once the required approvals are granted from domestic institutions such as the Register of Motor Vehicles, the Ministry of Industrial Development, and other local Government bodies, they will decide the nature of the assembly plant which will specially target the domestic market in the initial stages.

This approval is a conditional long term business venture and has not decided the nature of the plant because of the pending government approvals due to manifold reasons, Yatawara said.

“Zoyte is an up and coming Chinese automaker but it certainly is a forward looking company keeping up with current trends in the auto market,” he said.

After having gone green earlier this year with a highway-speed electric SUV, this month Zoyte has closed a co-branding agreement with Fiat, the Italian automaker.

Fiat Multipla and Lancia Lybra will go under the Zoyte branding and it is rumored that more of the Fiat models might be bought in the near future by the Chinese brand.

Zoyte seems thus to be quite aggressively trying to build its brand.

Investing in designs and corporate image on Zoyte, which might just be another rising from nowhere to become an up and coming Chinese auto brand. Things took a decisive turn in 1989, when it was selected as the first government venture for peopelisation. In May that year, ######## Lanka Limited was born.

The company was listed with the Colombo Stock Exchange a few months later. The company has since grown in strength and reputation, guided by the vision to be the best company in the country through diversification.

Their corporate strategy has proved highly successful. UML maintained the leadership position by consistently providing high quality products, services and transport solutions to a discerning clientele.

Today, UML PLC is a major player in Sri Lanka’s motor trade. UML has a long history and its roots can be traced back to ######## Limited, which was formed in 1945. The business was acquired by the Government in 1972. It emerged as the market leader for Japanese vehicle imports in 1988, having entered into a distributor agreement with Mitsubishi Motors Corporation three years earlier.

Dailynews : http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/12/01/bus01.asp

[Devinda_Z]

saw this and wondered why we need more chinese rubbish!

but if its made like a Cami/Terios then it wouldn't be too bad i guess

[xXx]

saw this and wondered why we need more chinese rubbish!

but if its made like a Cami/Terios then it wouldn't be too bad i guess

well we need these types of chinese rubbish coz they'll be the only stuff people will be able to afford. so from UML’s side they are in the right track.

look what has happened to the market for japanese trucks in SL? it has totally crashed.

1) coz small truck owner has no business due to high costs

2) there are losts of cheap chinese and indian origin single cabs

had a chat with a head of a leasing company the other day and he was saying there's no point seizing trucks now coz its hard to dish them out in auctions.

plus did you boys see the Wh***s La**a advert this weekend? when you buy a truck from them, they pay for the comprehensive insurance and the first instalment of the lease. that's how dry truck market has been. it wont be too long till that fate hits the other types of motor vehicles.

[maliths]

well we need these types of chinese rubbish coz they'll be the only stuff people will be able to afford. so from UML’s side they are in the right track.

look what has happened to the market for japanese trucks in SL? it has totally crashed.

1) coz small truck owner has no business due to high costs

2) there are losts of cheap chinese and indian origin single cabs

had a chat with a head of a leasing company the other day and he was saying there's no point seizing trucks now coz its hard to dish them out in auctions.

plus did you boys see the Wh***s La**a advert this weekend? when you buy a truck from them, they pay for the comprehensive insurance and the first instalment of the lease. that's how dry truck market has been. it wont be too long till that fate hits the other types of motor vehicles.

All these chinese trucks on the market are they good and reliable? If they are reliable and cheap its good for the people who buy them I guess. And if these vehicles do drive down the prices of vehicles it would be good for the consumer.

[xXx]

All these chinese trucks on the market are they good and reliable? If they are reliable and cheap its good for the people who buy them I guess. And if these vehicles do drive down the prices of vehicles it would be good for the consumer.

i'm afraid i wont be able to comment on their quality first hand as i have never used one. from what i've heard, they are no match to japs. come on they've been number 1 in the motor industry for decades do you honestly think these chinese and indians can match that in such a short time. they may run trouble free for few months as they are brand new but over time i doubt they'll hold up.

the thing is these substitutes aren’t bringing the price down. they have a similar price tag of a jap truck couple of years back. since price of jap trucks has gone up people can't afford them and they have no option but to buy these crap. i guess the same story applies to other vehicle categories.

[isam]

Why can't we get Toyota, Nissan or Mitsu to come here? Because we are small market? or is it because the politicians ask for large bribes?

[The Don]

Why can't we get Toyota, Nissan or Mitsu to come here? Because we are small market? or is it because the politicians ask for large bribes?

We are too expensive and too small a place to be used as a manufacturing base and the domestic market is not big enough to justify local production. The only hope we have are joint ventures. I think Mitsubishi will be the best option since they have a history of joint venture collaborations (Proton & Hyundai for example).

[maliths]

Why can't we get Toyota, Nissan or Mitsu to come here? Because we are small market? or is it because the politicians ask for large bribes?

I guess it could be both of the above reasons plus the big players probably would require state of the art modern production lines and highly trained personnel. I guess we just dont have that kinda money to spend of modern equipment so these cheap manufacturers are the option as fas as I know all these car assebly lines are only doing assembly of vehicles which are brought down in semi knocked down form right? So very little is needed to put together a factory to build these. So SKD offers a viable option for the manufacturer sell low volumes as our domestic market is small.

[The Don]

About the bribe situation, it is very true and embarrassing. I once heard from a friend who was trying to get a set of investors to invest in a BOI approved joint venture, on how embarrassed he was as at a meeting at the BOI everybody was expecting a "cut" and the investors, well they weren't prepared to meet their demands and walked off.

[maliths]

About the bribe situation, it is very true and embarrassing. I once heard from a friend who was trying to get a set of investors to invest in a BOI approved joint venture, on how embarrassed he was as at a meeting at the BOI everybody was expecting a "cut" and the investors, well they weren't prepared to meet their demands and walked off.

Yeah corruption is so widespread from the top to the bottom. This should be the first thing to sort out. There is so much of this going on that it has almost become the norm these days. Such a pity that these people cant be honest and law abiding and do the jobs properly.

[GTAm]

plus did you boys see the Wh***s La**a advert this weekend? when you buy a truck from them, they pay for the comprehensive insurance and the first instalment of the lease. that's how dry truck market has been. it wont be too long till that fate hits the other types of motor vehicles.

Btw heard that Wh eels Lnaka is starting an aasembly plant for Chinese trucks.

[Devinda_Z]

Btw heard that Wh eels Lnaka is starting an aasembly plant for Chinese trucks.

i heard that Browns had put up a sign board for some Chinese vehicles around the corner of its proposed new Fiat Showroom on Union place?!

any truth to this? whats the story?

[Le Sabre]

Good to hear that another company will be assembling cars in SL.

Any body has any idea on what models they will be making or any links to any websites.

I guess with the current ecconomic situation the big players like Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi will be thinking twice on opening plants in other countrys.

I guess we must be happy that atleast the chinese are willing to set up shop in SL.

Hopefully the company will start designing their own models soon different from the chinese ones.

Edited December 3, 2008 by Le Sabre

[xXx]

Btw heard that Wh eels Lnaka is starting an aasembly plant for Chinese trucks.

oh are they planning to assemble the 'faw' in SL then? tt’s sad to see that quality of life in SL has gone down a notch instead of going up. and the worst bit is we haven't even been fully exposed to the world economic gloom. crash in the tea sector is just the beginning

i heard that Browns had put up a sign board for some Chinese vehicles around the corner of its proposed new Fiat Showroom on Union place?!

any truth to this? whats the story?

is that so. assembling chinese is definitely the way forward. not so reliable source told me that Ishara has bought a significant chunk in browns. i won't be surprised with Harry's recent behaviour with the BOD. i wonder if he's taking lessons from Mr. Dutugamunu himself lol.

poor old Arthur wonder what’s new with his law suite. Gummy what’s the situation with 110 assembly?

Hopefully the company will start designing their own models soon different from the chinese ones.

that will be wishful thinking. i don’t think SL is in a situation to export vehicles so what ever new models will be only for local market. but i doubt the market is big enough to launch an all new model