Australian BOI venture Autogroup International looking to boost operations in Sri Lanka despite challenges

Autogroup International Sri Lanka (AGI), a 100% Australian-owned company specializing in the conversion of vehicles from left-hand drive to right-hand drive and then reexporting worldwide is considering a significant new factory expansion despite the challenging economic environment and government bureaucracy in Sri Lanka.

Mr. Rob Hill - CEO & Co-Chairman

Founded by Chairman Peter Hill over 30 years ago when he commenced his left to right-hand vehicle conversion business in Australia. Having faced numerous challenges in meeting the significant demand for right-hand drive American SUVs, Muscle Cars and Pickup trucks, he established Autogroup in Sri Lanka as a Board of Investment in Sri Lanka (BOI) business over 20 years ago.
Over the past two decades, the company has grown steadily from its humble beginnings and overcome many challenges as a foreign investor trying to grow a business in Sri Lanka, to build a successful venture that employs a highly-talented
and well-trained team of experts on par with any found internationally. Having survived the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst of the economic crisis during the past 3 years, thanks to the inspirational leadership of the Chief Executive Officer and Co- Chairman Rob Hill, AGI has focused on investing in the business by hiring new team members while enhancing the knowledge and skill levels of the team. It now boasts of a dynamic senior leadership team, a workplace culture focused on its people, and a generosity in its community values.
Autogroup International is an ISO 9001:2015-compliant manufacturer that specializes in converting vehicles to ADR (Australian Design Rules) standards. The company possesses a highly talented team of over 170+ people including 30+ engineers and a well-experienced production team, all supported by advanced 3D design, reverse engineering, and 3D printing technologies. It specializes in conversion of all types of American vehicles including luxury SUVs such as the GMC Yukon Denali, Hummer EV, Lincoln Navigator and Toyota Sequoia, classic American Pickup Trucks including the GMC Sierra, Ford F-Series, Toyota Tundra, and RAM, and a range of Muscle Cars such as the Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger and Chevrolet Camaro.

Expressing his thoughts on the journey so far, ‘Autogroup International’s CEO and Co-Chairman Rob Hill’. stated, “I am proud of our incredible, world-class Sri Lankan team that has delivered thousands of high-quality, safe, and legally compliant right- hand drive conversions to vehicles over the past 20 years and has helped build our global reputation as the best left-hand to Right-Hand conversion company in the world.” Looking into the future, he added that AGI needs to expand to meet its ever- increasing global demand for vehicles. “We have exciting ‘secret plans’ to expand our capability further and build a huge new factory. We sincerely hope our new factory will be in Sri Lanka despite the challenging bureaucracy and lack of support we often face as a foreign investor.”

All left-hand drive vehicles at AGI are carefully sourced from North America and are shipped to its world-class facility in Kaduwela, Sri Lanka where the entire conversion process takes place including the most complex engineering and manufacturing. Following 3-6 weeks of conversion process the vehicles are exported worldwide. It’s hard-earned global reputation for the highest of quality and safety standards together with unparalleled innovation ensures that these right-hand drive vehicles are in demand in over 40+ countries worldwide.