Micro Panda now in automatic mode to suit Sri Lanka’s urban conditions
View(s):Micro Cars Ltd, a pioneer Sri Lankan automobile manufacturer, has achieved another significant breakthrough with the launch of automatic transmission to its most popular and trusted duo, ‘Micro Panda’ and ‘Micro Panda Cross’.
Unveiling the new models, Dr. Lawrence Perera, Chairman / CEO of Micro Cars told the Business Times on the sidelines of the launching ceremony recently that his company has decided to introduce the automatic transmission instead of manual by considering heavy urban traffic and fuel saving.
‘Micro Panda’ is a very popular and fast selling small car among the first time buyers of cars due to its affordability, he said adding that his company has received a significant number of orders for Panda automatic despite the current vehicle price hike in the local market.
Inconsistency of state policies and not technology or skills are the major barriers for the progress of the automobile industry in Sri Lanka, Dr. Perera said adding that if the government provides necessary assistance and sticks to one policy, then there is no issue of producing vehicles (local assembly) to cater to the needs of local clientele.
Both the Micro Panda and Micro Panda Cross rapidly won hearts of thousands of people since the introduction to Sri Lankan market in 2010, due to its reliability and safety, he disclosed. More than 20,000 vehicles have been sold so far. Both models include the best in class features including the highest safety ranking in the compact car category.
Newly launched Panda Automatic and Panda Cross Automatic retain its higher safety and convenience features while including a Rotating Shift Knob and Peddle Shifters. Such advanced convenient features of this nature in the compact car segment is now available for the first time in Sri Lanka. The launch was held at Micro Car city office graced by the presence of the principal partner from Geely, representatives of financial institutions and other key stakeholders.
L. Xiong, Regional Vice-General Manager for Geely, highlighted the strong partnership between Micro Cars and Geely for the past seven years. He further stressed the importance of the Sri Lankan market to Geely and its plans in the future to introduce new products to suit different transportation segments in Sri Lanka.