has grown significantly. Within three months of introducing the zero-import duty policy, imported EV sales from BYD and Citroen rose greatly and eventually halved the market share with domestic manufacturers. BYD, by itself, dominated the EV market, beating even the likes of Hyundai and Wuling. Hyundai and Wuling were previously the leaders of Indonesia’ s EV market but have since taken a backseat to the Chinese EV giant.
Nonetheless, ICE vehicles still dominate Indonesian auto market. Though the overall EV market share is still at a low 3.70 per cent, this is still a large improvement from 2022’ s 0.99 per cent market share.
MALAYSIA Malaysia is currently in the running to beat Thailand as Asia’ s auto king. The peninsula has both sustainable and economic goals to achieve full EV adoption. The National Energy Transition Roadmap( NETR) details the Malaysian government’ s plans to achieve netzero by 2050. Though the document contains plans for several industries, the automotive and industrial sectors play significant roles. EVs, in particular, are an area of focus to achieve netzero.
Government policies to aid the EV shift include tax rebates for those who earn MYR 120,000( AUD 42,753.96) and below annually. For those building EV charging facilities on the other hand, up to MYR 2,500( AUD 890) in tax exemptions are available for the next four years.
Earlier this year, the Malaysian government also removed fuel subsidies to encourage the EV shift even further. Malaysian citizens commonly rely on the RON95, the petrol that was previously subsidised. Nik Nazmi, head of Malaysia’ s decarbonisation committee, spoke to the media about these subsidy removals and acknowledged that the public backlash was possible.
Both the Malaysian government and the country’ s own Malaysian Automotive Association( MAA) aim for EVs to comprise at least half of new car sales by the year 2040. Similar to its Southeast Asian neighbours, Malaysia’ s car market has seen a surge of Chinese EV makers over the recent years.
In the wake of China’ s EV rise, however, Malaysia’ s EV market is experiencing a price war.
According to Proton CEO Roslan Abdullah, the effects of Chinese EV makers’ discounted and low prices impact the domestic market’ s entire supply chain. Due to low prices from foreign competitors, local manufacturers are forced to match these prices. Unlike their Chinese competitors, Malaysia’ s local OEMs are“ unable to reduce vehicle prices [...] due to higher operating costs, including manufacturing, vendor and supply chain expenses.”
“ This situation leads to increased stockpiling, as customers are drawn to vehicles offered at lower prices,” the Proton CEO told the New Strait Times.“ At the same time, some customers are adopting a wait-and-see attitude, hoping that prices will drop further.”
Not only does the impact trickle down to distributors and vendors but affects the country’ s used car market as well.“ For example, if a Brand A vehicle is initially purchased for RM100,000 but later sold at a discounted price of RM80,000, it will significantly affect the vehicle’ s depreciation. The trade-in market will also suffer as a result. This trend makes customers more likely to purchase new vehicles, as the prices are more competitive compared to used ones,” he explained further.
According to Abdullah, foreign EV makers greatly benefit from their“ minimal” investment in Malaysia’ s SKD( semi-knocked down) and CBU schemes. These schemes, which allow manufacturers to bypass some operating costs, lead to significantly reduced prices on the market. He added that larger Malaysian manufacturers such as Proton may be able to survive the price
10 ISSUE 52 APRIL 2025 / WWW. AFMA. ORG. AU