Tata Motors hopes to sell cars in Malaysia
Associated Press
Kuala Lumpur, March 25, 2005
India's leading carmaker Tata Motors is looking into selling passenger cars in Malaysia, a media report said on Friday.
The automaker already assembles and sells commercial trucks in Malaysia, but wants to expand sales to its passenger car line.
Initial market surveys in Malaysia have been positive and "we hope for something to materialise over next year," V Sumantran, the executive director of Tata's passenger car business unit, was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.
The Malaysian market is well suited for the company's Indica hatchback and the Indigo sedan, as well as the Marina compact station wagon and the Safari four-wheel drive, Sumantran said in an interview during a recent visit to Malaysia.
Sumantran said Tata was also evaluating whether to bring its cars to Malaysia as completely knocked down (CKU) or completely built up (CBU) units.
"For instance, when we entered South Africa, people told us that you can't go in without being a local assembler. But so far, we have been going on successfully in South Africa," he said.
Tata currently has a tie-up with local conglomerate DRB-Hicom, which assembles the Indian company's commercial trucks here.
Asked whether it would be difficult to enter the Malaysian market due to its high taxes on imported cars, Sumantran said: "At the end of the day, in business you have to take what is given and make the best out of it.
© HT Media Ltd. 2005.