Mitsubishi Motors to make SUVs in Bangladesh - Nikkei

A Mitsubishi Motors logo is seen on display at the New York International Auto Show in New York City, April 20, 2011.

Reuters - Mitsubishi Motors Corp will produce sport utility vehicle (SUV) Pajero Sport this summer in Bangladesh, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Progoti Industries Ltd, a state-owned company with which the Japanese automaker has partnered since the late 1970s, will begin producing the SUV at a plant in Chittagong, the paper said.

The parts for the SUV will be supplied from Thailand by Mitsubishi, the Nikkei reported.

Mitsubishi and Progoti will also look at local production of Mitsubishi-brand sedans in the future, the daily said.

Sales of Mitsubishi automobiles in Bangladesh jumped 55 percent to 1,800 vehicles in 2010, the report said .

The Bangladeshi firm already assembles old-style Pajeros under technical guidance from the Japanese company and will switch to the new model, it said.

Despite the small size of Bangladesh's auto market, the country's future is considered promising considering its 150 million population, the Nikkei reported.

Although still a very poor nation, Bangladesh's gross domestic product has grown at an average annual rate of around 6 percent during the past five years, the daily said.

(Reporting by Kavyanjali Kaushik in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)