Paving the Path
Uttara Motors in the frontlines with a vision to revolutionise the automobile industry of the country.
As the sole distributor of Suzuki Japan, what do you think makes Suzuki the success story it has been so far?
SUZUKI is one of the globally renowned automobile companies known for its fuel-efficient automobile technology. The company is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the entire world. From the beginning of the journey, SUZUKI has generated a very outstanding decision that sets them apart from others. When the market was fully stocked with heavy vehicles, Suzuki introduced a small car ‘Suzulight’ and the story began. SUZUKI has merged its business in several countries that helped a lot in achieving success more easily. SUZUKI has expanded its business in 23 countries, having distribution outlets in 133 countries. SUZUKI’s aim is “We will hand over what you need, as much as you need, when necessary,” Simultaneous technological advancement and new ideas helped them reach their vision. Some of the cars which have done well for the company are Alto, WagonR, Swift, Jimny, Ciaz and Ertiga.
In Bangladesh, we have secured a prestigious brand value for SUZUKI cars. Now almost every car user is aware of the presence of SUZUKI vehicles in the country. We have sold more than 25,000 units of SUZUKI here and have a good number of corporate and regular buyers. Today, SUZUKI has introduced a number of luxurious and stylish models in their lineup and we have also launched those models and offer our customer with attractive price and ensure countrywide after-sales services for our vehicles.
What differentiates Uttara Motors Ltd. as an automobile importer, assembler and manufacturer from its competitors?
Uttara Motors Ltd. is the front runner and carrying the crown of the most leading automobile company in Bangladesh. Embarking on its prestigious journey in 1972, we have become the most trusted name in Bangladesh for all automobile needs. We believe in long term relationship, good business ethics and brand loyalty. We are enormously committed to serving the best quality service through the experienced well-groomed service team, own equipped workshop and well-trained engineers all over the country. These are the significant strength that differentiates Uttara Motors to others.
We have a clear vision to revolutionize the automobile industry of the country. We lead the country’s economic growth by mobilizing the nation through providing all types of transportation starting from 2 wheelers to passenger car, all the way to commercial vehicles. We are the sole distributor for SUZUKI automobiles, ISUZU commercial and specialized vehicles, BAJAJ 2 and 3 wheelers and SML ISUZU trucks & buses. Hence, we are the house offering a complete range of automobiles in Bangladesh.
Uttara Motors has already established a 2 wheeler manufacturing plant with a production capacity of around 2.5 lac motorcycle. We also have truck & bus chassis assembling plant in Chittagong. Now we are in the process of establishing a passenger car assembling plant in the coming future.
The size of the market is increasing by 4 percent every year. Do you think the current growth rate of the new vehicle is sustainable in the long run?
The present growth rate is sustainable or not, actually depends on the market size of any products. You are aware that the brand new passenger car market is not a big number and I believe the present rate is actually lower than 4%. The only way growth can be sustainable is when there is government policy support in the sector. Structured duty policy, easy financing options and good service facilities are some of the other key ingredients for this to sustain.
The current market size of reconditioned cars and brand new cars is 25000 units, in which 5000 units are brand new. What do you think is the reason behind the inconsistency between the supply and demand? How can consumers be encouraged to invest in a car?
In our country, cars are still being considered as a luxury item while the rest of the world considers it an essential good. Our government also considers the same and impose higher customs duty. So there are some conflicts between income and buying capacities. A structured long term duty policy, easy financing options and good service facilities will encourage the customers to invest in a car.
The current state of the car industry is not very encouraging; what measures need to be taken to improve the situation?
A country’s development mostly depends on its transport facilities and one of the main components is road infrastructure. Our road facilities in urban areas are still not sufficient for a car to run smoothly. Users lose their valuable time on the road due to high traffic congestion. Also, the brand new car industry in our country is growing very sluggishly. The marketplace is completely captured by used vehicles.
Only local infrastructure development and long term automobile policy promoting local assembling of cars can improve the overall situation in the long run. In the short run, it is very much important, to educate the customers regarding the cost of ownership of buying a new car as opposed to the used car and how that significantly differs between the two.
We also think the government may consider several duty slabs intended to facilitate lower-income people as a car owner. We think the duty slab should be 800 – 1000cc, 1001 – 1300cc, 1301 – 1500cc etc. This will make smaller cc and environment-friendly cars affordable for the masses which will make people’s life easy and help in the country’s economic growth.
Can you elaborate on the sort of policy support the car industry could benefit from?
Our existing customs duty structure is not encouraging for the car industry. The recently introduced SRO for the automobile industry is a step in the right direction but the conditions in the SRO is not favourable for establishing a car industry. Our Honorable Prime Minister’s vision is to make Bangladesh into an industrialized nation. We feel a properly structured policy needs to be made in order to attract foreign direct and local investment so that the industry as a whole gets benefitted. Also importing of used cars have to be discouraged so that local automobile industry can flourish. Only then, cars made in Bangladesh can become a reality in the near future.
A critical concern is the lack of skilled and technical manpower. How can the public and private sector bridge this gap through investment?
Yes, one of the major barriers is the lack of skilled and technical manpower. Currently, the manpower is in an infant stage, so creating skilled and specialized manpower is now mandatory to develop the industry. Privately, local manpower can be skilled with the contiguity of overseas technical experts. The government can initiate a long term learning process through vocational education and training centres in partnership with foreign countries and institutes. Currently, some are taking place with NGOs and local entrepreneurs but it’s not sufficient. Private investments in this sector will only increase when there is support from the government in the form of long term structured policies for doing business in the automobile sector as a whole. Only then can this gap in skilled manpower be eventually bridged. This will also lead to huge employment generation and development of light industries in the country.
Is Uttara Motors Ltd doing anything to create mass awareness about traffic rules?
To aware and educate people, Uttara Motors is offering our customers an easy driving registration policy, so that customers can easily get their driving license. Concurrently, we are doing an awareness campaign digitally in all our social pages. We are also in the process of initiating a mass awareness campaign in partnership with BRTA in the ground levels. In this joint effort, we are going to organize seminars and BTL activities to make people aware of traffic rules in all divisions of the country.
