Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (March 17): Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd is expanding its foothold in Myanmar by increasing its dealership network to 15 by 2020.

According to a news report by the Nikkei Asian Review which quoted a company official, Tan Chong — which runs three Nissan dealerships in Yangon and other parts of Myanmar — aims to set up two dealerships a year throughout the country, including Southern Pathein.

The automotive group is said to be eyeing 20% share of Myanmar’s new-car market, as growth in new-car sales is expected to be driven by a shift from used vehicles.

Additionally, the Myanmar government is reinforcing a new car import policy this year, which will limit imports to newer left-hand drive models, curbing the practice of purchasing second-hand vehicles mainly from Japan, which are in right-hand drive mode.

The ban was also initiated to control the weakening of the kyat against the U.S. dollar due to the high demand for imported cars, which are denominated in dollar.

Tan Chong began selling Nissan cars in Myanmar in 2013. Nissan Motor Co Ltd had on Feb 17, announced it will begin assembling new cars for the first time there this year, in partnership with Tan Chong.

“Plans for a new manufacturing facility in the country's Bago region are progressing well,” Nissan said on its website.

The group offers Nissan and Renault models at the moment, and has two assembling facilities in Malaysia, with a combined output capacity of 100,000 vehicles annually. 

Tan Chong shares dipped 0.54% or 1 sen to RM1.84 in morning session trade today, with 785,100 shares done. 

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