Environmentally- friendly Motoring promotion in 2014

Srilanka will promote Environmentally –friendly motoring this year further streamlining vehicle emission test to keep the air that people breathe clean and fresh, Commissioner General of motor Traffic S.H. Harischandra told in a media brief.sringent regulations will be introduced to take actions against owners of obsolete vehicles which cause air pollution as vehicle emission testing has been made mandatory for all the vehicles, except for agricultural and armed force vehicles, the Commissioner said.

Srilanka’s vehicle emission testing programme has been been strengthened with the setgin up of a 40 million rupee mobile ambient air quality monitoring unit. The unit has the capability of monitoring air pollutant gases including Carbon Monoxide (co), Carbon Dioxide (co2) and other hydrocarbons (hc).

 

 

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Indian cars fail the crash test

Five of the most popular small cars have failed crash tests conducted by a UK based car safety watchdog, accordingly to a report on BBC online.

The test by global NCAP showed that if involved in a crash, serious injuries could result. Among the cars tested were India’s talismanic Tata Nano, the world’s cheapest car, as well as models made in India by ford, Volkswagen and Hyundai.

The cars were apparently striped of ssfety features to make them cheaper for Indian buyers, correspondents say according to the report. The five models accounted for 20 percent of all sales of the country last year. Estimates predict that 80% of the cars sold in India are in prices between 8,000$.

“It is worrying to see the levels of safety that are 20 years behind the five star standards now common in Europe and North America,” said by the head of NCAP Global, Max mosley, the former chief of international motorsport. Car manufacturers who have spoken out since the safety tests have insisted that the safely is of paramount importance and that they will be rewieving the NCAP’s test outcome.

Poor structural integrity and the absence of airbags are putting the lives if the Indians at the risk. The customers have the right to know how safe their vehicles are and to expect the same level of safety as standard as customer in the other part of the world.

As a repercussion the Volkswagen have withdrawn its Polo model without airbags. Volkswagen also said the air bags, as well as anti lock brakes, would become a standard of their product from February 2014.

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Toyota Lanka opens new body repair and paint centre

Toyota Lanka opened its newest state of the art Body Repair and Paint Centre recently in Wattala. Located in close proximity to its corporate headquarters (Toyota Plaza), the Toyota Lanka Body and Paint Centre (BPC) becomes the first automobile integrator to revolutionise body repair and paint service standards in Sri Lanka.
This new facility is also the home for world’s prestigious and renowned Italian tire brand Pirelli in Sri Lanka and is equipped with high tech equipment to cater to the tire requirements of all kinds of vehicles including most premier automotive brands.
Toyota Lanka Managing Director Yoshiaki Kato said: “It is our duty as the official distributor of Toyota, to provide our valued customers with the best facilities and expertise to repair and restore their vehicles back to their original conditions. The establishment is another symbol of our efforts of further enhancing after sales services to customer service.”
He further emphasised that this BP centre is mainly targeting heavy and medium accident repairs and small repairs like bumper repairs and touch ups can be accommodated at service facilities at the Wattala head office, Ratmalana and Maharagama.

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Micro Cars - Who Took Us to the World

In January 1999, the MICRO car project was initiated with the concept of “Providing a Car for everyone” which is affordable, economical, safe and environmentally friendly means of transport for the masses, with this vision in mind , I undertook to manufacture  the “National Car” for the country, under the trade name          

Chairman

n   I am an auto passionate and an automobile Engineer by profession. A certificated Automobile Engineer and a fellow member of “Institute of Motor Industry, UK (CAE ,FIMI) , who counts over 37 years of experience to my credit in the automobile industry both locally and in overseas in organizations such as Volkswagen, Peugeot, BMW, Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo and Chrysler.

n  My four year apprenticeship at the Ceylon German Technical Training Institute in automobile engineering gave me an in-depth insight into automobile engineering and the formal training  I received in Germany and France made me realize that producing an automobile was within my reach.

n  With my strong automobile  background, I decided to  pioneer the  project of  manufacturing the first and only car in Sri  Lanka in 1999, Since then “MICRO”  has reached greater heights. Today “Micro” is an known automobile brand in Sri Lanka as well as  overseas.    

n  As a Local company we ensure that all vehicles which are produced / assembled locally  include  a 30% to 40% Local Value Addition

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1st car designed, prototype and manufactured in srilanka, 1st to Obtain a patent for a Motor Car

In January 1999, the MICRO car project was initiated and focused on providing a National car which was safe, economical, environmentally friendly and an affordable means of transport for the masses.

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Introduction to Micro Cars

In January 1999, the Micro car project was initiated and focused on providing a National car which was safe, economical and environmentally friendly and an affordable means of transport for the masses.

As Sri Lanka’s first ever car, the “Micro” was designed, developed and prototyped to be manufactured locally with at least 60% local content. The prototype was prepared in 1999 along with the chassis and made its debut in December. The body was modeled in styling clay and then transferred to composite for final analysis in June 2000.

Micro has launched the MC 9, the successor to the first indigenously developed car, the Micro Privilege. Micro has significantly expanded its product line and signed Technology Transfer Agreements with many foreign Automobile Manufacturers. Micro Cars Ltd is a company very well received by all national and private institutions.

SSangyong has selected Micro Cars as their technical partner and exclusive franchise holder in Sri Lanka. The operation currently assembles Rexton, Kyron, Actyon, Actyon Sports models, with further models planned in the future. Plans are in motion to export these SUV’s t the neighboring countries with a 30% + local value addition. Micro clocked another first by assembling a DuoDeck bus for the first time in South Asia with the assistance of a Technology Transfer – Joint Venture with Hong Kong Based bus manufacturing company, King Long. The assembly will be done at the Polgahawela facility, later will be shifted to a new production plant in the Southern Port City of Hambanthota.

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