KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Bhd aims to be a leading player to support Malaysia's aspiration to push towards low carbon mobility by offering a wide array of products and services and capabilities across the company's automotive value chain.
Group chief executive officer Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson said the conglomerate's focus on electric vehicles (EV) aligns with its commitment to delivering sustainable futures.
"We will feature a balanced portfolio of both internal combustion engine models and EV models to position us for the future," he said in a statement today.
Jeffri said this is in line with Sime Darby's sustainability blueprint to drive the company's sustainability efforts to offer a more energy-efficient product portfolio by 2025.
The company's current offerings are available through its core businesses of motors and industrial segments.
These include high-value assembly capabilities, a wide spectrum of world-leading brands, a highly skilled workforce for EV retail and aftersales services, supply and maintenance of EV charging equipment and support for the development of EV infrastructure.
Additionally, the company's regional EV ambitions are bolstered by an expanding EV line-up, complemented by partnerships with new EV brands such as Nio, Weltmeister and Li Auto.
Meanwhile, Sime Darby's stronghold in China, the world's largest and most sophisticated EV market, would provide Sime Darby with insight into the fast-evolving EV industry.
It said learnings could be adapted to support the development of a robust EV ecosystem in Malaysia.
In line with its role as a key enabler, Sime Darby's subsidiary, Sime Darby Holdings Bhd, has entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ecoride Sdn Bhd with the support of the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corp (MGTC), an agency of the Environment and Water Ministry.
The MoU seeks to explore opportunities for collaboration between the parties involved, too, supply EV fleets and provide aftersales services to complement the nation's transportation migration from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to EV.
The signatories who were in attendance at the World Expo 2020 Dubai inked the MoU in support of the Malaysian National Automotive Policy, particularly in green mobility.
Ecoride aspires to champion the nation's migration from ICE to EV in line with these aims, specifically the government's commitment to the Low Carbon Mobility Blueprint, which runs until 2030.
Mandated to drive green growth, mitigation of climate change, and a green lifestyle, MGTC is the custodian of the government's low carbon mobility blueprint.
"These are exciting times, and the MoU marks Sime Darby's commitment to helping accelerate the adoption of EV in the country.
"The recently announced 2022 Budget's tax incentives to promote EV is welcome news and will certainly spur EV sales volumes," Jeffri added.
Group chief strategy officer Datuk Thomas Leong said Sime Darby's capabilities along the entire value chain from retail and assembly to EV charging equipment, coupled with its China advantage, made the company uniquely suited to champion EV adoption across the Asia Pacific.
Leong is also responsible for spearheading the group's electromobility initiatives.