First-ever locally manufactured Quadricycle introduced

By Chaturanga Samarawickrama   

First-ever locally manufactured  L7e model vehicle with four wheels ‘Quadricycle’ was introduced by State Minister of Industries Dayasiri Jayasekara at the Department of Motor Traffic yesterday. 

 According to the manufacturer, Automobile Engineer (Australia) Ishan Wijeyasinghe, this vehicle got the first chassis number as it was the first-ever locally manufactured Quadricycle in Sri Lanka.   

This project was started five years ago before the import of Quadricycle vehicles from India.   

“This vehicle was made safer than a three-wheeler while considering the chassis, braking system and the number of wheels. The engine capacity, fuel consumption and maintenance cost of this Quadricycle is similar to a three-wheeler,” he said.   

If the government seeks a solution to replace three-wheelers, Quadricycle is the best answer for that. This vehicle was manufactured with the use of local spare parts.   
This vehicle was made as an alternative for the three-wheelers to reduce the number of deaths occurred in a year.   

When manufacturing this vehicle, we have to pay at least Rs.700, 000 as Customs duty for import tax and spare parts.   

Therefore, Mr Wijeyasinghe requests the government to grant them a 70 per cent import tax concession.   

He said the Chassis numbers of the vehicles which are currently being manufactured in the country are from other countries. But they get an import tax concession of 70 per cent.   
If tax concessions were granted, this Quadricycle could sell lower than the present selling price of a three-wheeler, Mr Wijeyasinghe added.