KUALA LUMPUR: The government will need to understand public requirements and new technologies before giving out customised incentives to vehicle manufacturers, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.
Such incentives can only be handed out once the government understood what the buyers want and what the manufacturers are capable of.
Dr Mahathir was responding on whether customised incentives for vehicle manufaturers would be standardised under the new National Automotive Policy (NAP 2020).
Malaysia Automotive Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii) chief executive officer Datuk Madani Sahari said customised incentives for automotive part manufacturers as well as automakers had been enhanced under NAP 2020.
“The enhanced customised incentives would not only include the green aspect of original equipment manufacturers’ investment into the country but also manufacturing processes.
“Such incentives will be comprehensively assessed through the Cost-Benefit-Analysis to ensure investors can give proper benefits to Malaysia and consumers,” Madani told the New Straits Times.
Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir said Malaysia was “quite” far ahead in terms of new technologies in vehicle development.
“We have the capacity but we have not reached the stage where we can actually invest,” he said at a press conference after launching the NAP 2020 here yesterday.
He said Malaysia would invest not only for the local market but also the global market in the future.
“That is the only way to achieve economies of scale,” he added.
Dr Mahathir said Bumiputera companies’ involvement in car production was strong but they were lagging in terms of marketing.
“Bumiputera companies are weak in marketing. We need to upgrade their skills and for this we need to train and expose them, where they can learn all about marketing and how to promote their products,” he said.
He said this required investment and the government would consider supporting them in the area.