Life & Style | Motoring
Dubai to produce low-budget cars soon
Dubai will soon be home to a car manufacturing plant that will produce low-budget smart cars Tiger Kubs, costing $3,000 (Dh11,000).
- By Saifur Rahman, Business News Editor
- Published: 23:08 November 15, 2007
- The Lexus IS300 on display at the Middle East International Road Show.
- Image Credit: Megan Hirons/Gulf News
Dubai: Dubai will soon be home to a car manufacturing plant that will produce low-budget smart cars Tiger Kubs, costing $3,000 (Dh11,000).
Three Dubai-based investors have recently acquired a German kart enginemaker, Diland, that will manufacture a light weight, hi-power and fuel efficient car with a speed of 100 km/h.
"We will begin to decommission the plant in Germany in about 10 days before shipping it to Dubai Investment Park," Graham Henderson, development director of Praktiko, told Gulf News on Thursday.
"It will be a lightweight, high-powered and fuel efficient car getting 100 miles per gallon and targeting the Indian subcontinent market. We are going to match Tata's Rs100,000 car," he said.
Pitched at a price below the Mercedes Smart car, which has been incredibly successful with fuel-wary Europeans, the Tiger Kub is expected to offer a performance comparable to the Volkswagen Beetle in terms of weight-to-performance ratio, due to its lightweight frame.
Over the next six months Praktiko will be manufacturing and distributing the Biland SA250 engine, originally developed for the Swatch Car, which will be adjusted and re-branded as the Layland SA250, named after Layla, daughter of Dubai-based Iranian expatriate Massoud Khodjasteh, managing director of Praktiko.
First initiative
This will be the first complete automotive engine produced in the UAE, with engine sales initially targeting the kart racing industry. "We will initially manufacture 20 engines a month going up to 50 and later 100 per month by 2009," Graham Henderson, development director of Praktiko AG, said.
Massoud Khodjasteh explained how his uniquely low budget cars will create hundreds of new jobs and open up a completely new sector in the UAE.
"We have officially entered the highly competitive 'One Lakh Race' to supply cars to these countries, where demand is incredibly high for small, quick, economical and affordable cars.
"This is no mean feat as we are going up against automotive giants, such as Suzuki, Tata, Maruti and Bajaj, to efficiently produce a car aimed at budgets of around Rs100,000, with 100 km to the gallon and a speed of 100 km/h."
Massoud also confirmed the prototype Kub will be ready for display at Dubai's 2008 Motorshow.
"The car is designed and viable and we are convinced the UAE is the best place for us to make this a success. The available labour, infrastructure, tax benefits and fav-ourable geographical position make me confident this venture will be a great addition to the country's success."
With a look and size not unlike the Smart car, the two-seater Tiger Kub would benefit from a fraction of the success of its German-owned counterpart, which is soon to be launched in the US.
Retailing at around $11,600 smart cars have already received 30,000 US reservations from Americans hoping to escape increasingly gridlocked roads.
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