PETALING JAYA: Malaysia needs a larger electric vehicle (EV) market to attract broader investments in local assembly, as global automakers continue to assess the commercial viability of producing EVs in the country.
While several Chinese automakers have moved ahead with plans to assemble EVs locally, Japanese and European manufacturers are still evaluating whether Malaysia offers sufficient demand and economies of scale to justify similar investments.
Responding to a question on why Chinese brands have been quicker to establish local EV assembly, the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) president Mohd Shamsor Mohd Zain said localisation decisions are driven by each company’s business strategy.
“If you’re saying the Chinese have a setup footing in terms of local production, that’s their strategy and they have the capacity or the capability to do their thing,” he told reporters after MAA’s first-half industry briefing today.
He said other automakers may also review their localisation plans, but any investment would depend on market demand and production scale.
“Maybe the other brands will probably also review their strategy in terms of local production. But it also depends on whether there is enough market and whether there is enough economy of scale for such production in Malaysia,” he said.
Malaysia is seeking to position itself as a regional EV manufacturing hub through investment incentives and localisation initiatives.
Several Chinese automakers, including BYD, Leapmotor and XPENG, have announced plans for local EV assembly in Malaysia, while comparable announcements from Japanese and European manufacturers have yet to emerge.
