Cars Made In Srilanka

[Gummybr]

Sorry, i just read what i typed.. It's not the clearest thing to read...

I was just saying.. You cant remove one tiny step of a highly efficient optimized production line, replace it with manual labour and expect save on the overall cost. So, if you take away the tax component, I bet an original SangYong Kyron is cheaper than a Micro Kyron.

Machang the whole point of "local assembly" was to give affordable cars to the masses of SL. So why sell a vehicle at the same price as a duty paid car?

But story is different when it comes to bigger vehicles like the Ssangyongs because they will be kind of cheaper than the fully duty paid vehicles. I believe the local assembly requires a 30% local value addition on the assembled cars (this I know because of the BOI agreement thing), but still it cant be that expensive right?

I'm waiting to see what Maruti will do with their intended assembly project.

[Watchman]

Machang the whole point of "local assembly" was to give affordable cars to the masses of SL. So why sell a vehicle at the same price as a duty paid car?

But story is different when it comes to bigger vehicles like the Ssangyongs because they will be kind of cheaper than the fully duty paid vehicles. I believe the local assembly requires a 30% local value addition on the assembled cars (this I know because of the BOI agreement thing), but still it cant be that expensive right?

I'm waiting to see what Maruti will do with their intended assembly

Theoretically you're correct. But like GTAm said if the 'assembly' is purely namesake and the reason it becomes affordable is because of the tax break, then cant the government simply reduce vehicle taxes across the board and give the affordable cars to the masses.Why just ONE brand?

So in laymen terms; its something like this. An imported car is 10lks. The government taxes 10lks so you pay 20lks. But now the 10lk car is "assembled" in SL and taxed say 30%, and the "assembler" sells it at 18 lks. So the affordability (benefit) to the masses is 2lks. But if you look at the bigger picture instead of 10lks of taxes going to the treasury for public services and infrastructure, only 3lks goes to the treasury, and some individual(s) pockets another 5lks.

As for the 30% value addition its all about how you quantify it. Example, the assembler can claim that his re-badge and servicing 'value is 30%' due to pricision and expert workmanship. Can you argue with that?

[Gummybr]

Theoretically you're correct. But like GTAm said if the 'assembly' is purely namesake and the reason it becomes affordable is because of the tax break, then cant the government simply reduce vehicle taxes across the board and give the affordable cars to the masses.Why just ONE brand?

So in laymen terms; its something like this. An imported car is 10lks. The government taxes 10lks so you pay 20lks. But now the 10lk car is "assembled" in SL and taxed say 30%, and the "assembler" sells it at 18 lks. So the affordability (benefit) to the masses is 2lks. But if you look at the bigger picture instead of 10lks of taxes going to the treasury for public services and infrastructure, only 3lks goes to the treasury, and some individual(s) pockets another 5lks.

As for the 30% value addition its all about how you quantify it. Example, the assembler can claim that his re-badge and servicing 'value is 30%' due to pricision and expert workmanship. Can you argue with that?

Machang the 30% local value addition has to be shown to Min of Industries with proof (labour is not taken or taken only a small part of it as I recall), and then this is then taken up by a committee who checks this against the prices they have from approved / registered suppliers. Its something that new comers to the assembly projects will understand in a short time. As always some can get away with help from other sources.

Unimo had apparently pulled up this question with the CMTA but they dont seem that strong to help out.

[CJ5]

does ur family still have it?

a pic would be nice if you have one

Unfortunately No! it was sold in 1987 when we upgraded to the GLX S/W.

[Sampath Gunasekera]

Micros are definitely not made in SL. It's even hard to say that they are assembled here because they are not. We are all taken on a gigantic ride to avoid paying the correct import taxes. How do they get away with it? Because of the powerful "connections" . If we had an assembly plant here would it not be the pride of this country and would not there be factory visits by the public, school kids etc. Won't they show it on TV and boast about it?

I'll tell you what the assembly consists of. Removing protective stickers off the body, pasting the badges, replacing the Chinese battery with another imported one, If leather is required it's done locally and fill in the fluids - Oils and Coolants. Voila - Made in Sri Lanka.

How do I know this? I'm afraid I cannot reveal my sources, but make your inquiries from people in the know and you will see.

But Sri Lanka being Sri Lanka they'll probably get away with it for years to come and no one will be bothered about it I'm dead sure.

As far as I know there are two types of asssembly known as "semi knock down" & "complete knock down" based on extent of components dismanteled. (Correct me if I am wrong). Bajaj three wheelers and Micro may fall into different categories. (But you may be correct here . Micro are muffler supported )

Chinese vehicle, Nomad Zotye also assembled by Unit#d Mot#rs here.

These are some photos I cliked while my car at service there. That day 33 containers(40 footers) were supposed to arrive and 4 of them were unloaded while I was there. 3 - 5 unites were in single container as I saw. All units were covered and cound't see how far they are knocked down.

[GTAm]

True that. But I dont understand why a vehicle which you dont pay the full duty (supposedly assembled in SL) comes at around the same price of a fully duty paid vehicle of similar size (Panda and the MX7 or whatever).

In one word - "Margin". When you can sell just below the price of your competitors and earn a fat profit why thin it out? Also you know consumer take price as an indicator of quality. If a car was excessively cheap many people who be suspicious about the quality. I also think that they have a capacity issue when it comes to their sticker removing assembly. Space, workers, keeping everything secret etc is not easy for any industry in SL. So they operate at the optimum level. Smart.

[GTAm]

BTW almost all large franchise holder importers have applied for assembly license in the last few years but the govt. has not given approval yet. If you read some of the past annual reports of the Plc's you will see that they have.