http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=173574
Sedan venture soon
Mitsubishi president tells The Daily Star about the motor giant’s decision on new assembling project in Bangladesh
Osamu Masuko
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.
