Sri Lanka to assemble Land Rover Defenders in Hambantota
View(s):By Bandula Sirimanna
Sri Lanka is to start assembling Land Rover Defenders this year with the technical know-how and expert assistance of British Jaguar Land Rover engineers, officials of Sathosa Motors PLC said in Colombo this week.
Sathosa Motors PLC will invest US$1 million to set up an assembly plant for Land Rover Defenders at a site in Hambantota in close proximity to Magam Ruhunupura Mahinda Rajapaksa Port, Access Engineering and SML Frontier Automotive (Pvt) Ltd Chairman Sumal Perera revealed.
Preliminary work on the assembly plant has already been completed and the machinery will be brought down from the UK, he told a media conference convened to announce the launch of SML Frontier Automotive (Pvt) Ltd, which will be the exclusive distributor and after sales provider for Land Rover in Sri Lanka.
The proposed project which will commence shortly would make Land Rover vehicles available and affordable to a wider spectrum of the market he added.
SML Frontier Automotive (Pvt) Ltd is a 50-50 partnership between Sathosa Motors and Sheran Fernando who is the local agent of Land Rover, Mr. Perera disclosed.
Access Engineering Ltd, a public quoted company now owns over 86 per cent of Sathosa Motors PLC.
This investment is in line with the company’s strategic view of creating a pool of world-renowned brands under the umbrella of the Access Engineering Group, Sathosa Motors Executive Director Tilak Gunasekera told the Business Times.
“The final beneficiary of this venture will be the Land Rover owners and enthusiasts; Today, we made a great emphasis on ‘after sales service’ through this joint partnership,” SML Frontier Automotive, Managing Director Sheran Fernando said. After sales service is considered the corner stone of strengthening the Land Rover/ Range Rover brand in Sri Lanka and the construction of a new state-of-the-art workshop in Vauxhall Street will be the epicenter of Land Rover’s after sales service and will commence operations soon he disclosed.
Land Rover/Range Rover is one of the most sought after prestigious brands in the world and has been one of the top three European luxury automobile brands in Sri Lanka during the last five years.
In addition to the luxury automotive sector, another market segment that Land Rover dominates is that of the military, where it has been a partner for the past 50 years, remaining ‘the vehicle of choice’ within the Sri Lanka Army, Mr. Fernando said, Jaguar Land Rover taken over by Tata in 2008 is a business built around two great British car brands with exceptional design and engineering capabilities. Jaguar Land Rover’s manufacturing facilities are in the UK.
Jaguar Cars, founded in 1922, is one of the world’s premier manufacturers of luxury saloons and sports cars. Land Rover has been manufacturing 4x4s since 1948.
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