A sales girl of local car manufacturer explains about the light truck at a car exhibition. Pic: MT

WHEN we talk about the future of the automobile industry in Myanmar, we have to focus mainly on used car trading market and the limited domestic car assembly industry.

The reason for this is simple: Cars are not made in large numbers inside Myanmar.

Dealers at Yangon’s used car trading market predicted that domestic car production could play a major role in the future, especially with imports of new cars banned since 2001.

“The major factor is that there are no more new imported cars on the market, which leaves a limited selection for buyers to choose from,” said U Thiha Zaw, one car trader.

He said that seven years ago, Myanmar car trading was at its peak and appeared to offer solid and lucrative long-term employment.

“In those days there were no locally made cars in the market, which was supplied with mostly Japanese imports, which occupied about 90 percent of the trade.

“And the cars which were popular then are still surviving on the roads today,” he said.

U Myint Aung, another car trader, said locally made cars control a much higher market share now.

“Two or three years ago, buyers were not into locally made cars and preferred Japanese cars but currently some are becoming interested in trading of locally made vehicles like light trucks,” he said.

Some carmakers said local car production has a promising future.

“I thing there might be a strong future for our industry because if there are no new imports, buyers must turn to domestically made cars, which should boost our production,” U Kyaw Soe Win, owner of KSW light truck factory in Yangon.
He said the government policy of import substitution favoured local producers.
“We shouldn’t be satisfied with only light truck production. We should try to raise our production and also try to make sedans so we can compete with Japanese sedans,” U Kyaw Soe Linn said.

U Ko Ko Aung, managing director of Myanmar Automobile Engineering Co that makes light trucks at Hlaing Tharyar Industrial Zone, said the big challenge of sedan production was that it required more advanced technology than light trucks.

“It is very important to invite technicians from other countries to work in our industry and local technicians need to learn from them. If not, with our current technology we will only be able to produce low quality vehicles,” he said.
Market sources said the current high fuel price is not a major concern to Myanmar’s automobile industry.

“High fuel prices are a major cause for car owners but fuel is an essential need for the vehicles so car users don’t have any choice and have to pay whatever the price is,” said U Aung Than Win, one car trader.

He said that the nine-fold increase on in October 2005 caused only a ripple little impact on the used car market.

“Fuel price is not a major problem as far as trading is concerned because it’s based on what’s already on the market. It would be better if we could invite more carmakers from other countries to develop joint-venture car production locally; more new cars would be easily available in the market and prices would be fair,” he said.

Local carmakers said so far they have no plans to produce new cars that use alternative fuels because that would require more advanced technology.
U Ko Ko Aung said it would be better to better develop cars with existing technology.

“To produce alternative fuel-powered cars is beyond us, instead we should try to improve the technology we’ve got; that would be very constructive for the future automobile industry,” he said.