Nearly 90 percent of brand new cars registered in Sri Lanka with engine capacity below 1000 cc are from India, reports Nushka Nafeel of the state-owned Daily News.

Other countries which sell cars in the island nation are way behind in this category, with Malaysia accounting for 7 percent, Japan for 1 percent and others for another 1 percent. The Sri Lankan car assembler Micro Cars, accounts for 7 percent.

In the pre-owned category, however, Japan has no challenger. It accounts for 99 percent.

Nafeel says that vehicle registration has been going up by leaps and bounds thanks to tax concessions, government’s vehicle distribution policies, and the availability of leasing. If 429.556 vehicles were registered in 2014, by September this year, 491,632 had been registered. And in the cars category, out of the 15,107 registered in September 2015, 12,500 were small cars with engines below 1000 cc, an overwhelming majority of them from India. Marutis have a lion’s share of the market. And Nanos are run as taxis.

(The New Indian Express)