Le Sabre

When do you think they will bring the law to change all existing numerical number plates to the new english plates.

What would be the going price for a presea now. Also what do you guys think of the Nissan Pulsar 1997-2000 model. Whats the going price of the pulsar, is it somewhat same as the presea.

Just wanted to find out from anyone who have owned or driven a Nissan Presea 1997-2000 model. Hows it performance and the availability of spare parts. Does it do well on petrol and hows the resale value. What would be the best price to pay for this model.

Whats the best Japanese small car out of the following. Any other cars that come to your mind please do list them. And price wise which would be expensive and the least expensive. Toyota Starlet EP91 Nissan March K11 Nissan Cube

The same report had this to say about the speed limit. Not sure if its true or confirmed yet. The speed limit was said to be between 110Km/h and 120Km/h from the RDA website. Also if the local expressways are going to be like autobahns i think the seat belt law should come to affect. " There are no traffic lights, stop signs or (brace yourself for this) POLICE. Speeding is allowed as long as your vehicle is in a good condition and you don’t drive to kill".

How are the 1998-2000 Mitsubishi Galant models. Anybody with experience in owning one or driving one please let me know how it does on petrol and are spare parts easily available. What would be the going price for a Galant in the mentioned year of manufacture.

Came across this site with some projects on SL. http://www.maga.lk/?page_id=7

Is there much difference between the carina AT192 and the corona CT190 models from 1995-1998. Do they differ much in price as well.

Just wanted to find out the prices for the 1995-1997 Toyota AT 192 and the 1995-1998 Honda EK3 models. What engine does the AT 192 have.

Some time back there were plans to put up cameras in the city in different locations for security purposes to monitor stuff. So not sure if these cameras that are installed are traffic cameras or just monitoring cameras.

Another thing which might help boost the park and ride service is that if they expand to locations that they operate outside the city. This might bring in more people. Also they should have good and secure parking spaces and some other facilities that will tempt the people to use this service.

How are the Kia Rio 2002-2004 auto models. Are they better than the Hyundai models in that range.

'Park and ride' goes up to Wadduwa from Nov 1 The Cityliner premium bus service 'Park and Ride' which operates from Moratuwa to Colombo Fort will be extended up to Wadduwa from November 1 as a measure to curb the traffic congestion and man power loss. Already 117 daily commuters ride in the luxury bus to the Colombo Fort. Addressing a media-briefing in Colombo yesterday, National Transport Commission (NTC) Advisor M.B.S. Fernando said the NTC has also selected a site to develop a "Park and Ride" in Kadawatha following good public responses. He said the present service operating from Moratuwa to Colombo Fort has been able to attract a considerable volume of passengers. Already 117 daily commuters who travel by car or motorcycle, park their vehicles at Katubedda and ride in a luxury bus to the Colombo Fort. Places in Talangama, Katunayake, Homagama, Ja-ela and Werahera have also been identified to operate the Cityliner service. In addition to the office service, plans are afoot to commence the Cityliner service to cater to the shopping crowd in the afternoon. It will be operated on main roads and streets where main shopping malls and supermarkets are located. The NTC commenced this service under the instructions of Transport Minister Dullas Alahapperuma with the main objective of reducing traffic on the roads by private vehicle owners who motor to the City daily. The NTC implements the service to reduce the number of private vehicles entering and operating within the City from 200,000 to 150,000 and thereby reducing traffic congestion, consumption of fuel and environment pollution. "The project would save an annual petrol and diesel cost of Rs.560 and Rs.260 respectively spent by motorists who enter the Colombo Fort in their private vehicles due to traffic congestion in Colombo and its suburbs," he said. "We operate 24 turns for the two way service daily at a reasonable price," he said. Turns will be increased up to 150 by allocating more buses to the project. This facility provides parking for around 150 vehicles and it operates from Moratuwa and Fort via Nawam Mawatha. Initially the Moratuwa-Fort service will operate every 30 minutes between 6.30 a.m. and 8.30 a.m. and will return from Fort from 4.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. Park and Ride schemes are often marketed as a way to avoid the difficulties of driving in congested traffic and to avoid the cost of parking within the City centre. The Cityliner service is designed for commuters to read, relax or even work on their laptop computers while offering low cost and less stressful travelling to the City.

The design speed for the Southern Expressway is supposed to be 120km/h according to the RDA website.

When you mention FB14, is it the model 1995-96 or after this year.

Just came across this article. WB gives $ 243 m for highway The A - 12 highway from Nochchiyagama in Anuradhapura district to Trincomalee will be converted to a modern highway. The World Bank will provide US $ 243 million to renovate 130 kilometre road. Sri Lanka’s World Bank project Director Gajaba Gunawardane said the A - 12 high way has been a historical roadway since Mannar, Vavuniya, Puttalam and Anuradhapura districts have access to the East along the A - 12 road. Nation Building Minister S. M. Chandrasena said the road construction project would be inaugurated on November 6 at Horowpothana.

Wonder how long they will take to make the colombo-Katu expressway, outer circular road and the colombo-Kandy expressway. Is the work on the colombo -katu and colombo-kandy expressway in progress. Hope they will also think of linking up the North and East with colombo with an expressway as well.

Came across a link with the expressway completed so far.

I dont think they will allow busses, then the ticket prices will increase as its a toll expressway. I guess the cars, vans and private bus operating companies will be using the expressway. The busses and 3 wheelers will get to race it out on the older road i guess.

Looks like they are going to manufacture the Micro Privilege first model in india. Any news on when the new Privilege will be out. It will be good to see how the international market accepts this and any other new models from Micro. Micro moves into manufacturing prime movers In an economy the transport sector always plays a key role to keep the economy moving. Our objective is to shoulder this responsibility and be of use to provide most economical, modern and efficient solutions to meet the common mans requirement. The commissioning of the new facility to manufacture Prime Movers (Container Carrier) for heavy long haulage with a carrying capacity of 80 tons, is to cater to the large haulage vehicle sector which will be developing as a result of liberation of the north and east, where large volumes of goods are required for transport, which otherwise was transported by sea. Road transport will be cheaper mode of transport. Manufacturing the same locally, will make available affordable new heavy vehicles which will be appropriate to our transport sector. This production line is made available with the technical co-operation by International Tractors Ltd. a company of “Sonalika Group” of India branded as Sonalika marketed by Micro Agri, to meet the increased demand of agriculture tractors and implements due to the vast expansion of new land liberated after the war. Assembling tractors and implements in Sri Lanka will no doubt make available a quality product at a very reasonable price to the farmer. Manufacturing vehicles in Sri Lanka will have many benefits to the national economy such as; saving of valuable foreign exchange costs on overheads, salaries, wages and profit that would be paid to overseas supplier, in the event these vehicles are imported in completely built form. All vehicles assembled in Sri Lanka are with over 35% local value addition. This includes manufacturing components locally. This gives an opportunity to local manufacturers to supply OEM parts to vehicles manufactured in Sri Lanka, while an opportunity is made available to the youth to be a part of this opportunity which is limited to a privileged in the developed countries. The first model of the Micro Privilege will be manufactured in India. This is the model that met all the criticism from all parties when introduced to the local market in the year 2003. The Indian partner has been quoted as saying it is proud to enter into a JV with such an innovative company as Micro Cars Ltd of Sri Lanka. Since Micro Cars Ltd has proven its ability and developed a product for export market, the government should encourage such enterprises to enjoy duty free and vat free facilities for the trucks and prime movers made in Sri Lanka, so that the locally made such vehicles, will enjoy an advantage over the imported vehicles. In turn this will allow large locally made vehicles to be used at a very reasonable price. By doing so locally made vehicles will be tested in Sri Lanka and will be available for export to the region as the first Micro Privileged.

Can anyone give me some advice on the 1999-2000 Suzuki Baleno sedan. Hows its performance and do spare parts cost more than other japanese models. Has anyone driven or owned this model car, if so what are your opinions on the car. What would be the best price to pay for this model.

Toyota is good but the Nissan models are a bit newer. Any other suggestions on any different makes and models in this price range.

Looks like the X type Jag wont be assembled in srilanka after this.

Jaguar kills the X-Type and cuts 300 jobs Blaming market weakness, the Indian-controlled British automaker is winding down production of the “Baby Jag” and cutting yet more workers Jaguar Land Rover is cutting another 300 jobs at its Halewood factory and will stop producing the smaller “X-Type” cars at the end of the year. The company is blaming “on-going weakness in the market” for the decision. Alongside the 300 voluntary redundancies, there will also be three weeks of non-production at the Merseyside plant between September and December. David Smith, the JLR chief executive, said: “Our industry has been especially badly hit by the recession. Ceasing production of the X-Type, with further redundancies and temporary shutdowns, is necessary to protect our other investment plans.” JLR’s sales have dropped by 28 per cent since September—and 2,200 jobs have already gone—after the recession blew a hole in the global car industry. Talks with the Government about assistance have been taking place since January, but Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, says help should come from Tata Motors (TTM)—JLR’s Indian parent company that bought the group for £1bn last March. More recently, JLR secured a €340m (£292m) loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) under the UK government’s own Automotive Assistance Programme. However, the loan needs a guarantee from Westminster and JLR says the Government’s terms are untenably harsh. The X-Type, or “Baby Jag”, was known to be coming towards the end of its life, but production was expected to run well into 2010. The decision to bring the end-date forward cannot be laid entirely at the Government’s door, but it is understood that the extra funding might have allowed it to run its natural course. Any further measures the company may take is also dependent on the talks. Smith said: “Further actions will be determined by the state of the market and the speed with which the EIB loan can be drawn.” The end of the X-Type is a major strategic move for JLR because it was the group’s only shot at a mass-market vehicle, says Garel Rhys, at Cardiff Business School’s Centre for Automotive Industry Research. “The die is now cast for this company to be a lower volume, but higher margin, producer,” he said. “It means the end of attempts to make Jaguar a semi-volume brand in the way that BMW and Mercedes are.” The big question is what happens to Halewood without the X-Type. JLR says the future of the plant is secure because Land Rover’s top seller, the Freelander, is made there, and neither of the other two factories, at Castle Bromwich and Solihull, has the capacity to take over. But commentators have major reservations about the company’s overcapacity. “When you take the X-Type out, it leaves JLR as a very small company,” Hilton Holloway, the associate editor of Autocar magazine, said. “Three is simply too many for a company that doesn’t add up to more than 300,000 cars per year.” But closing any down will be tricky because, in comparison with rivals such as Mercedes and BMW, JLR uses an unusual number of different “platforms” – or sets of parts. “JLR is in a tough position: it has too many factories, but streamlining its range is very difficult because they are all so different,” Holloway said.

Micro Cars adds new manufacturing complex In this era of economic meltdown, Micro Cars Ltd has taken a giant and brave step by adding another manufacturing complex at the premises of the Micro Car factory in the Polgahawela BOI Zone. State Revenue and State Finance Minister and Finance and Planning Deputy Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and Chairman, Micro Cars Ltd, Dr Lawrence Perera inspecting the newly opened complex in Polgahawela. Picture by Sumanachandra Ariyawansa Micro Cars Ltd, Chairman Dr Lawrence Perera, said that the new factory is expected to contribute to the output of Micro Agri tractors used for agricultural purposes, and primemovers, for container transportation. The locally assembled tractor and primemover, the container transporter will drastically contribute to the transportation and agricultural purposes of the country. “Since the end of the war many opportunities have emerged in the Northern and the Eastern parts of the country making the need for transportation heavily felt. Transportation plays a vital role in the development of a country, Therefore it’s important to upgrade the modes of transportation, if a country is to be more productive and efficient. Our main intention is to fulfill the need of transportation of the country,” Perera said. ISO certified Micro Cars Ltd had introduced a passenger bus with the latest facilities such as air suspension and ABS brake system. Hence it could cater to the transportation needs of many when new routes are opened. The new factory has 250-300 vehicle capacity per month and there will be a demand for agricultural product transportation as well as public. Hence, the monthly output of Micro vehicles will address that demand, he said. Micro Cars Ltd is not only an entrepreneur in Sri Lanka but also a stimulant that had given opportunities for many other small and medium entrepreneurs in Sri lanka. Micro Cars use 35 percent locally manufactured materials into their end products therefore it indirectly generate many job opportunities. Micro Cars Ltd has joint ventures with Chinese, South Korean and Indian companies. Perera said that Micro Cars Ltd has come a long way since its inception in 1999, and today under the Mahinda Chinthana development program it will be introducing a power train and is expecting due approval from the Government to run it on track. He said that country is in need of 900-1000 container movers a year and Micro Cars Ltd can directly cater to that need now with the new factory in Polgahawela.