Malaysia's Energy Efficient Vehicle incentive program

The Malaysian government introduced an Energy Efficient Vehicle incentive program with the aim of improving the automotive industry and provide better incentives for car companies to introduce more fuel efficient cars in Malaysia. The incentive is by way of tax incentives if the models of cars that were introduced complied with the so-called standard of fuel efficiency gazetted by the Malaysian Government. The fuel efficiency standard is not a global standard by one devised by Malaysian Government's advisory body.
Japan has its own domestic fuel efficiency test and so do the Europeans. No one is sure where the fuel efficiency standard figure is obtained from for the Malaysian standard. Many hybrids and European and Japanese vehicles already meet these fuel efficiency standards but not all have benefited from the tax incentive.
All the car makers are aiming to benefit from the tax incentive to reduce the price of cars in Malaysia. It looks like the government is either reluctant to provide the incentives or have no plans to honor it. Thus far only a handful of models have seen any kinds of price reduction benefits. Mercedes Benz's S400 hybrid has been one of the few models that benefited from this scheme but to a limited degree as there is a quota for the benefit. By right such a scheme should be to the benefit for all car makers who have cars that are able to meet the fuel efficiency rating and there should not be any quota. It is as if the govt wants to show it is trying to do some good for the automotive industry by providing such an incentive but on the other hand it is reluctant to honor it. What is the point of mooting such ideas when they don't want to honor it?! this is nothing new in the Malaysian context as it is similar to the Govt pledging to remove the much hated AP (Approved Permit) system where selected businessmen who are linked to the govt are giving import permits for cars. The govt has pledged to remove this AP system for years but this removal deadline has been push back further and further each time saying that the Malaysian Auto industry is not ready for it. The truth in the matter is that only Proton is not ready and the businessmen linked to the govt will lose their benefits. The remainder of the automotive industry is ready and waiting for years for the automotive industry to be opened up.

In 2014 it is the first time in decades where both local car makers Proton and Perodua combined failed to capture more than 50% of the market share. Combined they only managed 46% which is a big drop from 2 years ago. The competition from foreign car makers are getting stronger and the public is sick and tired of buying substandard quality Protons. The one to suffer the most is Proton since Perodua still managed a good slice of the market with its low cost K-cars which serve the masses.

2015 will be an interesting year to see how the automotive industry will fair. There is much speculation that it may contract with the introduction of GST while others believe the prices will drop a little but since the cost of everything will go up, the public may decide to cut spending.

tokyo Auto salon 2015

Tokyo Autosalon came and went for 2015. The same usual exhibits were there again... such as the DAD crystal decked cars and many cars that were recycled from last year's show. It seems like the excitement of this auto show has dimmed or the Japanese tuning industry is falling asleep. Nothing new and exciting is being put on display or there is not major innovation. 10 years ago the auto salon show cased many new tuning concepts and tuning parts. These days the auto salon features far too many recycled cars from previous year's shows such as the JUN GT-R, the Liberty Walk Lamborghini, HKS tuned Toyota 86, Rocket Bunny 86, DAD crystal Mercedes SL and some stanced MPVs. It is quite boring to see the same old cars being exhibiting year after year.

the only thing new to the show as the candy covered car. It is by no means a performance car but more of a display of outrageous design idea. Despite the same cars and products being featured, the show is still packed with car enthusiasts from all over the world.

The halls are completely full of people from Friday afternoon till closing time on Sunday evening. The auto salon is a big event in Japan and the show has expanded to cover 12 halls which is an impressive feat on its own but the more impressive thing is that every hall is nearly completely full of visitors.

reviving car companies

In the recent years we have seen several notable car brands going into bankruptcy and then end up in the hands of Chinese or Indian companies. The prominent ones were Volvo, LandRover / Jaguar and MG. Volvo and MG were bought over by China companies while Jaguar/ LandRover were bought by Indian car company Tata.
All of these companies have now turned a new leaf in their business and are doing much better than when they were managed by their previous European owners. Why is that? Is it due to better management from the new owners or bigger injection of capital to boost R&D and product development?
From Volvo's perspective, having a Chinese owner helped boost their sales in China which is by far the most lucrative market in the world right now. The same goes for MG, being Chinese owned they were able to penetrate the China market enabling them to increase their vehicle sales many times over. Tata also did a fantastic job to turn around Jaguar / LandRover in the recent years. LandRover was stuck in a time warp with the previous generation models until Tata came along and took over the company. The new model line up was much more appealing to consumers and also created a new image for LandRover. The same thing happened with Jaguar, once deemed as an oldman's car is now much fresher and younger looking with several impressive new models that has given the motoring world some excitement.

Were the previous owners too stuck in their old ways or were they too cash strapped to make any progress? Getting into the two largest emerging countries in the world definitely helped and a positive change in management boosted the companies' ability to create fresh new products that people would want to buy.