The government has set 2025 as a target for national brands Proton and Perodua to introduce electric vehicles (EVs). The timeline was revealed by deputy minister of international trade and industry (MITI) Liew Chin Tong.
The Iskandar Puteri MP said this is parliament in response to a question by Bangi MP Syahredzan Johan, who asked about the affordability of EVs in Malaysia. The latter posted up his question and Liew’s response on X, and we’ve embedded the post below.
As we already know, while CBU EVs are currently exempt from import and excise duty to boost adoption, the government has set a floor price of RM100,000, which means that no imported EVs can be sold under that mark.
This mandate means that budget EVs such as the Wuling Air – which we test drove in Jakarta – won’t be coming to Malaysia for around RM50k to RM70k anytime soon. The Neta V is priced at RM100k, but is much cheaper in Thailand. Even the BYD Dolphin was earlier rumoured to come in below the century mark.
The Wuling Air EV starts from below RM60k in Indonesia, while the Neta V is priced at RM72k in Thailand
MITI minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz previously told paultan.org that the condition was put in place to allow local players to get themselves ready for electrification.
“We are giving them (local carmakers) time to prepare for EVs. There have been questions as to why we are not liberalising quicker, but we have to look at the big picture to protect our local automotive industry for a while so that there is a just transition, because it does relate to a lot of employment, from jobs to suppliers,” he said in July.
Liew struck the same tone, saying in the video below that the government’s policy is to develop the local auto industry, with local content. He said that the government welcomes all auto players to set up shop in Malaysia, and CKD EVs won’t have price restrictions.
There’s more than a whiff of protectionism going on with this policy, but it will no doubt benefit the local players and automotive ecosystem, versus opening the floodgates to cheap EVs from China, where players will sell them cheap and take the profits, without laying down roots. What’s your take on this?
Rebet kereta EV dilihat hanya untuk orang kaya sebab EV mahal. Bagaimana pula EV mampu milik?
Sedutan perbahasan Belanjawan 2024 saya di peringkat jawatankuasa bagi MITI, serta jawapan penggulungan daripada Timbalan Menteri.#DemiBangi #parlimenmalaysia pic.twitter.com/xooaiBjMdI
— Syahredzan Johan (@syahredzan) November 16, 2023
The post Gov’t has set 2025 EV target for Proton, Perodua – MITI appeared first on Paul Tan’s Automotive News.
