Hundreds of land rovers have found their way into Burma in recent years, but now plans are afoot to begin officially exporting the popular 4 x 4 vehicle into the country, according to a report in India’s Economic Times on Thursday.
Dale Jones, the chief executive officer of Guava International, the Southeast Asian partner of Jaguar Land Rover, is quoted as saying that discussions are under way with three potential dealership partners in Burma and that official sales should begin in 2013.
Guava International, which operates Jaguar Land Rover sales and services across more than 60 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa, said it has seen sales in Thailand this year outperform overall growth in the luxury car sector.
“Year-on-year sales of the high-end Range Rover model are up 60 percent compared to an estimated 15 to 20 percent growth for the sector overall. With a new Range Rover model for Thailand announced at the motor show on Wednesday, Guava projects year-on-year sales in 2013 will increase 30 percent, meaning total retail sales of between 200 and 250 units,” said the report.
Jones declined to give a sales target for Burma, officially known as Myanmar, but he said Vietnam is also a future bright spot for the luxury sports utility vehicle, despite a slowdown in sales this year.
“With the elimination of the trade barriers around all ASEAN markets, it will make Jaguar Land Rover look to the region to see if we should be having manufacturing capacity, be taking advantage of this large, single free-trade market," Jones said.
