In recent months there has been a flurry of interest in electric car ownership among some Malaysians as the government did a great move to remove all import duties and also road tax fees on full electric vehicles.
At the time, and even now, there are only luxury car manufacturers selling electric vehicles in Malaysia in high numbers.
The Nissan Leaf which is priced at RM188,000, the worlds best selling electric car has less sales over the Porsche Taycan in Malaysia which sells from affordable for the rich selling price of RM584,561 and the Hyundai Kona EV which has a selling price that starts from RM149,888 and is at the moment the lowest price electric car in Malaysia and yet it managed only a couple of dozen orders to date.
The Mini electric sold better than the Hyundai Kona EV. The BMW iX3 has more bookings, with a possible waiting time of almost 2 years, whereas the Renault Zoe, Europe’s best selling electric car took two years plus to clear their small stock of cars.
All, this points to just one thing. Only rich Malaysians can afford electric vehicles and they are enjoying tax free ownership and FREE road tax, whilst the average Malaysian car buyer continues to pay high import duties for new petrol powered cars and incur heavy yearly road tax fees for the petrol or diesel cars.
So, then, what about the non-stop news from click bait articles claiming Chinese EV car manufacturers with prices as low as RM45,000 are on the way to Malaysian showrooms. Just fiction for just much needed traffic from the average Malaysian reader?
Take the already spotted and making its rounds ORA Good Cat compact electric car. This cute little well appointed Great Wall Motors product was launched in Thailand and it is selling reasonably well.
Its initial indicated selling price was RM95,000 or so. Then in a recent online news article, the selling price rose to RM149,000 or so. Why? There is no import tax!
Well, simple. If low priced tax-free electric car can come into Malaysia, why can’t we get low priced petrol powered cars in Malaysia. Then the government can remove all subsidies on fuel.
Which means NO MORE petrol or diesel subsidy and let the FREE market decide the popularity of the electric car.
This will no happen because ……… how will our ‘national car’ brands survive? Right now both brands dominate the total industry volume and with long waiting lists to keep dealers very happy and parts manufacturers bank balances healthy.
