The automotive industry has responded to Tun Mahathir’s thoughts on introducing conditions for foreign cars. Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) president, Datuk Aishah Ahmad said that the move would be regressive for the growth of the automotive industry and all carmakers be it local or foreign should be on a level playing field. The reasoning is because locally-assembled foreign cars still use a lot of locally-made components, thus create business and employment to locals.
“It is a very regressive move. I don't think it's right for the government to say that they want to stop all cars other than Proton to be brought into the country," Aishah (pic below) was quoted by Bernama after her meeting with the Council of Eminent Persons yesterday.
*The report in NST had a different quote: “…I do not think it's time for the government to stop the entry of foreign car makers into the country,”
Instead, she suggested that the government should create a more conducive environment for the industry to thrive, not unlike what’s available in Thailand and Indonesia. Both of these countries have no ‘national brands’ but have overtaken Malaysia as the region’s automotive hub despite lagging behind Malaysia just a few years ago.
Official data indicates that Thailand manufactured 1,998,823 vehicles in 2017 (818,440 cars, 1,170,383 commercial vehicles), while Indonesia made 982,356 cars and 234,259 commercial vehicles for a total of 1,216,615 units.
The National Automotive Policy (NAP) which was last updated in 2014 could be a major stumbling block with its Customised Incentives scheme, as opposed to the clear-cut and well-defined set of benefits that a company may get when investing in our neighbouring countries. Further getting in the way of Malaysia’s potential is possible market growth and historical sales performance; Malaysia’s Total Industry Volume (TIV) for passenger vehicles was approximately 576,000 units in 2017, not much growth from 2005’s figure of just over 410,000 vehicles.
