ID :
240026
Mon, 05/14/2012 - 12:28
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Announcements From Car Makers On EEV Production In M'sia Soon: MITI

SHAH ALAM (Selangor, Malaysia), May 14 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Mukhriz Mahathir today said the government expected some announcements from vehicle manufacturers or assemblers, including big car makers to produce Energy Efficient Vehicles (EEVs) in Malaysia soon. "We hope to see some announcements being made by some of the big car makers in the near future based on the incentives we offered and I'm quite confident they will be taking advantage of some of the special incentives we are providing," he said. Mukhriz told reporters this after officiating the two-day National Automotive Technology and Digital Engineering Symposium (NATDES) organised by the ministry's agency, Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI), which began Monday. He said the incentives for automakers to produce more EEVs in Malaysia has been announced in the previous National Automotive Policy (NAP) but it took some time for them to understand the benefits offered to them by the government. Asked when the much-awaited NAP review would be unveiled, he said, "Let the (MITI) minister, Mustapa Mohamed announced it and the NAP would provide a road map for the local automotive industry from this year up to 2020." He also said there was some misconception on the scope or meaning of EEV because people tended to assume it was meant for hybrid and electric cars but EEV also included car with internal combustion engine which have higher mileage per litre of fuel and lesser omission of carbon dioxide. "For all these type of cars we have provided incentives. So, we are not looking at electric or hybrid but also fully combustion engine cars which are becoming more energy efficient even for diesel," he said. At the moment, he said EEV comprised mostly hybrid and electric cars representing about one per cent of the total vehicles on the road. Asked how the government wanted to boost the EEV production while still subsidising the fuel price, Mukhriz said the government could not cut the subsidies drastically as the usage of more EEVs was still at the early stage in this country and very few people were using them. "If subsidies are reduced in the short term, it would give quite a negative impact on many people. On this awareness, we must implement it in phases," he said. Meanwhile, MAI Chief Executive Officer Mohamad Madani Sahari told reporters that with the incentives provided by the government, hopefully the percentage of EEVs on the Malaysian road could reach double-digit by 2020 from a mere one per cent at present. He said MAI was not only looking for the greener vehicle but expected the car manufacturing process as well as the selection of parts material should also be greener, such as the recyclability of those parts. -- BERNAMA

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