Tata Motors expects SL’S car market and penetration to double by 2022
Tata Motors, a member of India’s Tata Group, expects Sri Lanka’s motorcar market to more than double by 2022 while the motor car penetration is also predicted to be doubled in the period.
“Sri Lanka’s car market should more than double during the next three to four years. We should see the car market more than doubling to 120,000 by 2022,” Tata Motors Limited President Passenger Vehicles Mayank Pareek told a media roundtable discussion, in Colombo, this week.
He said only 47 people own a car for every 1000 people, which is very low for Sri Lanka. He predicted that car ownership should be increased to 70 to 80 per 1,000 people in the next couple of years, driven mostly by 1200cc range cars.
Pareek noted that Tata views Sri Lankan market as a “positivelypoised” market for the future.
“Sri Lanka is a young country with a young population with a growing per capita income. Sri Lankans are aspirational; they want to consume the latest products.”
Further, he pointed out that Sri Lanka’s road infrastructure is also relatively good to accommodate the increase in car population.
According to the Transport and Civil Aviation Ministry, Sri Lanka’s motor car population stood at 756,856 units by end-2017, while 39,142 new motorcars were registered in 2017.
When queried about the possibility of setting up a vehicle manufacturing or assembly plant in Sri Lanka, Pareek opined that a stable policy environment is the key for Tata to consider setting up such a plant.