Sri Lanka poised to drive through best five years ahead – Rob Hill

Sri Lanka has witnessed a positive political change and the next five years for Sri Lanka would be the best, said Co-Executive Chairman – Autogroup International (Pvt) Ltd Rob Hill.

“From the conversation I have with my team they are very happy with the new political change that took place after the Presidential elections and they want this trend to continue in the future elections as well.”

Sri Lanka went through a very bad patch and the future now looks very bright, he said speaking to the Daily News Business feature ‘Expat Chit Chat.

Autogroup International Sri Lanka (AGI) a 100% Australian owned company specializing in automobile re-engineering with offices in Dallas – USA and Melbourne – Australia and Kaduwela, Sri Lanka. AGI, incorporated in 1994 set up a BOI venture in Sri Lanka.

The company’s team has converted over 4,500 vehicles, which have been exported to over 40 countries, bringing millions of USD income to the Sri Lankan economy. He said that he expects the end government to continue with stable economic policies which will help them to grow business which in turn will result firstly in bringing more forex to Sri Lanka and then in creating more employment. He said that they are not asking to reduce the taxes which are essential and they are ready to pay.

“However red tape must be reduced and strong action should be taken to curb corruption.”

Following is the Chit Chat with Rod Hill…

Q: What are your views on the import restrictions of automobiles and the local assembly industry?

A: Firstly, this does not have any negative impact for our local operations and it won’t affect us since we are a BOI company. However, I think this ban should be there for more time until such time the country is financially stronger.

As for the local assembly I would like to see more local value addition. In our case in addition to our local R&D where we have over 40 youth dedicated to it we also locally source plastic, steel, wood, glass, paint, rubber and many more during the conversions.

Q: What made you invest in Sri Lanka?

A: Firstly, it was the smiling faces and true warmth hospitably that inspired me to invest in Sri Lanka.

The second was the healthy investment terms that were offered and importantly the multi-talented Sri Lanka staff too was a huge plus point to bring our operations to Sri Lanka.

Q: What do you do in Sri Lanka?

A: Today most of the US automotive manufacturers produce left hand drive large SUV’s and trucks but there is big demand all over the world for right hand drives. Our business is to bring down these left handed vehicles to Sri Lanka on the request of clients, convert them to right hand ensuring that all the characteristics of modern vehicles are not compromised at all and safety features maintained or even better.

We even look at the minute details of changing the operating side of the mirror control switches side when converting a vehicle from left to right versions of the same vehicles.

We sometimes add more luxuries to it for which the R&D is done locally and this conversion takes around three months for the entire process to complete. One such innovation is the ‘soft close ‘of doors of the vehicle.

We specialize in conversion of models such as Chevrolet – Camaro and Silverado, Cadillac – Escalade, Ford – F150, F250 and Shelby Mustang, Dodge – RAM, Challenger, Charger, GMC – Yukon, Denali & Sierra, Hummer – H2, & H3, Lincoln – Navigator and Japanese North American models such as the Nissan Titan and Toyota Tundra.

For the first time in the world we made a special ultra-luxury car for CEO’s which included TV, mini fridge and several other luxury features. We have now received more orders for more. In addition, we are also producing another world first vehicle and the details would be released soon. This electric vehicle was flown to Sri Lanka this week. Though flying is more expensive it saves freight time by several weeks.

Q: What are your expansion plans?

A: Autogroup International local operations have witnessed growth in demand for right-hand drive American SUVs, Muscle Cars and Pickup trucks. I am amazed not only with the local talent but the brotherhood culture among them. I see a magic bond among them. The unity and teamwork they display not only during an emergency but in weddings and funerals is amazing and not evident anywhere in the world.

We have never regretted operating in Sri Lanka and our business too is growing which has now promoted us to consider further investment in expansion. We will increase our employee strength by over 100 in the next two years to meet the growing demand.”

Q: What are the new emerging markets that you are looking at?

A: It’s definitely India as we have an overwhelming response from there. We launched an online mobile campaign and hybrid event for which we had a record 200 million views. This is amazing. Also our YouTube channel now has 600,000 subscribers and we hope this will reach a million mark by the end of the year. We are also having another physical promotion this month in several Indian states.

We have also received many visits by their buyer teams to Sri Lanka which in turn has brought in many orders for conversions. We may also look at having a conversion factory in India as they are very attractive for foreign investors from separate states in India which compete with each other to get FDI to the state.

Q: What is your favorite place to spend a holiday in Sri Lanka?

A: It’s definitely the beach of Mirrissa which has a very quiet sea and the beach is also very beautiful. The area also has many good restaurants as well. One other advantage is the quick accessibility to Mirrissa via the southern expressway.

Q: What do you miss in Sri Lanka?

A: Not much but maybe a little bit of English Cheese and some bakery items.

Q: Can you recall an unforgettable incident in Sri Lanka?

A: During the economic crisis I was returning home from Mirrissa and my fuel was low. There were huge queues for fuel but somehow managed to drive back to Colombo.