Subaru Group N rally cars to be built in Singapore
Motor Image, a Tan Chong International Ltd company based in Singapore will be building Subaru Impreza rally cars together with Prodrive UK, the company behind the Subaru Rally Team. The rally cars will be produced at a new USD$15.4 million production facility in Singapore. They will be Group N vehicles, which are basically production vehicles but fitted with safety equipment incompliance with FIA’s rules and regulations for Group N rally cars. This will probably be Singapore’s first venture into the automotive industry. Production will begin at a rate of about 5 cars a month, and might increase to 15 in the near future.
March 26, 2006 @ 6:39 pm
waaa……choose the tiny lionpore oso dun wan MAS or thai…….wow……can tell me why ah?
i wanna know…..the facts, plz.
March 26, 2006 @ 10:47 pm
I am also curious. Why Singapore?
March 26, 2006 @ 11:00 pm
Cos Imprezas are the Wiras of Singapore.
In Singapore, the majority of cars you see on the roads are either, a Impreza, a Lancer or of late the Hyundai Matrix …
March 26, 2006 @ 11:19 pm
5 cars per month can cover cost? Or they do R&D there also?
March 27, 2006 @ 8:07 am
agree with fox. subaru market is larger there, and its an initiative that probably started there as well. not because they dont want malaysia, but also probably, no one in malaysia wanted to venture into it.
To modify a car to group N spec does not involve any R&D.
Its also cheaper to do it in singapore as compared to the UK, and i’m sure they’re targetting the rally guys in the region, from china, to australia, thailand..etc.
March 27, 2006 @ 12:32 pm
yeap.///may be there are many buyer in Singapore like Subaru car…but …is it feasible to built in Singapore?….5 units a month….how can they survive? ..may be they are aiming at AFTA…..but….frankly speaking..i dont see much of Subaru car in AFTA region….
March 27, 2006 @ 7:11 pm
that will b good if used full to us so can get more nearest to get new technology in better price .
March 27, 2006 @ 7:27 pm
i think some of you guys are missing the point.
these are not roadgoing cars, there is no aircon, no carpets, cruise control etc.. They are purpose built rally cars designed to be raced.
they are built to comply with the group N specifications for a rally car set by the FIA. they have full roll cages, FIA spec harnesses, seats, fire safety..etc .etc.
they sell hundreds of these cars to people who rally in europe, the US, australia, thailand, china, and even japan. A local malaysian rally driver, saladin mazlan owns a group N subaru, although not built by prodrive.
anyone can built a group n car. there are several group n rally cars in malaysia today, built in malaysia.