The International Trade and Industry Ministry is ready to grant generous incentives to car manufacturers from both national and non-national assemblers to encourage the production of hybrid and cost-effective models for the Asean market.
Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the incentives would include tax exemption apart from the current customised incentives that were already in place for such industry players of hybrid cars.
“These incentives are not only confined to foreign manufacturers but also to local assemblers who could come up with models that are energy-efficient and produce less carbon monoxide,” he told reporters after a stone-laying ceremony to mark the start of the second production line of Honda’s Pegoh plant in Alor Gajah, near here, yesterday.
Honda Malaysia will produce its Jazz Hybrid model for the Asian Oceania market segment for passenger cars from this plant.
Currently Honda produces its hybrid vehicles only in Japan and the United States.
Mustapa said that such incentives offered by his ministry would also prompt more foreign assemblers to set up their production facilities in the country.
He said the ministry would be willing to discuss the incentives packages with those interested in producing green cars, and this also encompassed those assemblers which made cars with smaller cubic capacities. Mustapa said there was promising growth for green passenger cars in the country in view of the growing middle-income group among Malaysians.
Meanwhile, of Asian Honda Motor Co Ltd president and CEO Hiroshi Kobayashi said the company’s expansion of the plant here was in accordance with the demand for green passenger cars in the Asean-Oceania region.
The company will be investing RM350mil initially and would be expanded to RM1bil over a three-year period, he said.
The plant is expected to start rolling out hybrid vehicles by the end of 2012 with a total production of 100,000 units annually and 800 units daily when the second production line is completed by next year.
The expanded factory will occupy a total space of 8.48 million sq m when it is completed almost double the 4.32 million sq m its current size.
Honda Malaysia managing director and CEO Yoichiro Ueno lauded the support by the Malaysian Government in promoting green technology among industry players.
“Honda’s growth and strong presence here in Malaysia would not have been possible without the partnership and support of the government and people of Malaysia. We have nurtured a strong working relationship with the government, our suppliers, dealers and customers.
“I would like to reiterate our firm commitment towards our business here in Malaysia as we strive to become a company that Malaysians would be proud to have in this country,” he said.
“With this expanded factory, we are making investments to bring in state-of-the-art technologies as well as other investments.
There will also be a transfer of technology such as with the installation of the latest state-of-the-art General Welding equipment.
“This is a demonstration of our commitment to continue providing products of the highest quality to our customers in Malaysia, which is reflected in our achievement of the No 1 ranking in the Initial Quality Study (IQS) award for the past five consecutive years,” he said.
