He said that the move might not benefit the country as envisioned by most because in the situation where the tables are turned, Malaysian investors are usually given a lot of restrictions when they want to invest in the countries from which the automotive makers originate from. He said that in such situations, when Malaysians wants to invest in their countries, it is not so easy so Malaysia too should not make it so easy for them to invest here. He said that if the countries do not open up and it is Malaysia who ends up opening up then, the benefit will surely go to the foreigners and will definitely not benefit us.
This came in the recent report that MIDA (Malaysian Investment Development Authority) announced that they are currently evaluating 5 applications from foreign car makers who are interested to set up their assembly plants here where they are looking to assemble cars below and above the 1,800cc capacities respectively and that they are expected to come out with the decision in the next couple of months.
MIDA also said that the carmakers from other Asean countries like South Korea, India, Japan and China have all voiced their interests to come into the country where they are keen on assembling cars from their hybrid and electric segment models. The recent revision of the NAP (National Automotive Policy) was instrumental in this issue where it has allowed foreign car makers to set up and own plants here if they are involved in rolling out luxury vehicles that costs more than RM150,000 each and above 1,800cc.
There has also been an increase of foreign brands here with the recent move by Naza Group to acquire distributor rights for GM’s Chevrolet brand as well as manufacturing Peugeot cars. Another automotive giant, DRB-HICOM also recently signed the partnership agreement with German car maker Volkswagen as well as manufacturing of sports cars under the Potenza brand.
