Malaysia’s automotive industry underwent a formidable transition this year, advancing as an integrated, electric vehicle (EV)-ready, supply-chain-driven automotive hub from being largely an assembler and consumer-market, an article in The Malay Mail noted.
This sets the stage for Malaysia to play a bigger role in regional automotive markets potentially as an export base and not confined to the comparatively limited domestic market.
It clearly signals a marked progress in the auto sector after more than 40 years since the Proton Saga was rolled out in 1985 which marked Malaysia’s entry into automotive manufacturing.
This has been made possible thanks largely to the continued push for localisation, coupled with EV manufacturing and supportive policy frameworks by the government.
The birth of Malaysia’s first homegrown EV, Perodua QV-E, marked a turning point for the local automotive landscape because it shifts the country from EV adoption to EV creation, which was followed recently by the launch of the competitively-priced Proton e.MAS 5. Read more here.
