Progoti eyes big as Japanese car imports drop

[integra]

As I said earlier, the peak power comes in very late, close to 6000-6500 RPM, down shifting doesn't help, not when you are doing a 0-60 take off anyways. As for believing me, if you ever come down to Sydney I promise you a drag between a Mazda MX-6(KL-ZE) and any Honda Civic/Integra of your choice.

Now that you've mentioned integra you've got personal.
Teg and civics aren't the same. They serve different markets although thats a different topic.
A stock b16a can make 0-98kph in 6.5-6.8 sec on a teg. Your mx-6 does it in roughly 7+ secs also so whats the big deal? If some one takes off at 4.5k with a b16a it wouldn be problem to smoke pretty much any mundane sedans.

By the way why am I fighting for Hondas 'cos you've got Mazda? Thats quite lame. And on the street over here, we don't drag but pull it from point A to point B through zigzags of life. Drags are for kids.

As for Sidney, nope!.

 

[eastwatch]

Mitsubishi plans big for Bangladesh [/b] From right, Yukio Okamoto, statutory auditor of Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Osamu Masuko, president, and Romo Rouf Chowdhury, managing director of Rangs Ltd, are seen at a press conference at Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka yesterday.
Sajjadur Rahman

Global automobile giant Mitsubishi Motors has made a bid to increase its market share in Bangladesh, which it believes has big potential to grow as an emerging market for cars.

This is part of the Japanese carmaker's new business plan. According to media reports, Mitsubishi said it would target a 37 percent jump in sales of Mitsubishi-brand vehicles to 1.37 million vehicles worldwide by 2013/14. Mitsubishi now looks to emerging markets for its rapid expansion.

The announcement came when Mitsubishi's net loss narrowed in the nine months to December from a year earlier as the global market recovers and cost-cutting measures helped offset the yen's strength.

Global retail sales volume for the three quarters totalled 807,000 vehicles, up 17 percent from the same period in 2009.

In Bangladesh, Mitsubishi will start assembling sedan cars. The 1,300cc sedan cars will be the latest addition to the current Mitsubishi Pajero and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport projects in Bangladesh. State-owned Progoti Industries Ltd has been assembling Pajero vehicles since 1985.

Osamu Masuko, global president of Mitsubishi Motors, who is in the city on a three-day visit, shared his company's expansion plan for Bangladesh with The Daily Star in an interview yesterday.

The Bangladesh government and Mitsubishi have agreed to study the possibility of the sedan-assembling project. The feasibility study will take six months to complete. Masuko said prices of the cars will decrease after local assembly but did not disclose further details on it.

The automaker will gradually transfer technology to Bangladesh to help it go into car-manufacturing in future. “Bangladesh must localise components to save foreign currency being spent on imports,” said Masuko.

Presently, Bangladesh's annual car market is around 30,000 units, dominated by reconditioned Japanese cars.

Rangs Motors, the market leader in the branded car segment and sole distributor of Mitsubishi vehicles, has a 38.6 percent share of the new-car market.

“It is an easy target to sell 200,000 units a year in the next five to 10 years,” Masuko said considering the country's population size and growing economy.

He believes the middleclass will get cars when more parts will be produced locally. Reduction of import duties is the present remedy, he added.

He cited the example of Korea-based Hyundai Motor that became a global player due to transfer of technology by Mitsubishi.

“It took 39 years to transfer the technology to Hyundai. If we start here today it will take at least 10-15 years to do that,” said Masuko.

Mitsubishi and Rangs have also announced the plan at a press conference at Sonargaon Hotel yesterday.

Yukio Okamoto, statutory auditor of Mitsubishi Motors, and Romo Rouf Chowdhury, managing director of Rangs Ltd, were present at the press conference.

Despite being a potential country for car-making, Chowdhury said manufacturing is not taking place largely due to an unfavourable tax structure. “The tax rate is the same for imported and manufactured vehicles,” he said.

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=173566

 

[eastwatch]

Sedan venture soon
Mitsubishi president tells The Daily Star about the motor giant's decision on new assembling project in Bangladesh
Sajjadur Rahman

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation decided to assemble family saloon cars in Bangladesh to tap the growing potential of the local market.

The Japanese carmaker giant also has plans to locally manufacture as many components as it can.

“We [Bangladesh government and Mitsubishi] have agreed to study the possibility of a sedan car assembling project,” Osamu Masuko, global president of Mitsubishi Motors, told The Daily Star in an interview yesterday.

The study will be concluded in six months, Masuko said.

After the feasibility study, state-owned Progoti Industries Ltd will start assembling the cars with 1,300cc (1.3 litre) engines.

The family saloon will be the third Mitsubishi vehicle, after the Pajero and Pajero Sport, to be assembled here. Progoti has been assembling Pajeroes since 1985. The Pajero Sport is expected to hit the local market in two to three months.

Rangs Motors is the sole distributor of all Mitsubishi vehicles in the local market.

Masuko, who is now in the city on a three-day visit to see progress of Mitsubishi's ongoing and future projects, said Bangladesh would benefit from the assembly plants in terms of technology transfer.

“Bangladesh has to localise components to save the foreign currency being spent on imports,” said the company president.

He cited the example of Hyundai Motor, a Korean automaker, that has become a global player due to transfer of technology by Mitsubishi Motors.

“It took 39 years to transfer the technology to Hyundai. If we start here today it will take at least 10-15 years to do that,” said Masuko.

He believes that Bangladesh has a lot of potential in the automobile sector with its huge number of educated young people.

 

[Zabaniyah]

^^^^

Even though the vehicles are locally assembled, cars are still too expensive in Bangladesh.

A locally assembled Pajero costing the same as an imported Prado is kinda outrageous.

 

[eastwatch]

I do not know about car prices in Bangladesh. But, a vehicle imported CKD is supposed to be cheaper because the CKD is taxed much less than a complete car. So, can anyone tell us what is the price of a new Pajero from Japan and what is its price when assembled locally? Same options for both the cases.

By the way, Mitsubishi is contemplating a production of 200,000 units of vehicles per year. However, roads are still very bad and most of the cars tend to concentrate in Dhaka and Chittagong. Preliminery works to build a 26km long overhead expressway in Dhaka has already started. It is supposed to be built in two (?) years.

This expressway will be connected to the already built flyovers and ramps. The total length will thus exceed 42 km, not bad for a Capital famous for its unkept roads. By the time of its completion, the GoB will certainly undertake construction of more expressways and hoighways.

Notheworthy is the new construction as well as renovation of Dhaka-Chittagong highway. Another highway will start in Mawa, cross Muktarpur in Munshiganj and meet Dhaka-CTG highway. Govt should expedite widening and improving all other highways that were built during the time of a great President Gen. Ayub Khan.