Malaysia will curb imports of fully built electric vehicles (EV) starting in July, a policy expected to squeeze many mid-range Chinese EV brands out of the domestic market.
The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry issued a circular to car importers with new regulations that effectively increase the minimum retail price of fully imported EVs and also increase the minimum power output for such models.
Accordingly, the cost of insurance and freight for the vehicles should be a minimum of 200,000 MYR (51,000 USD), with minimum power output set to 180 kilowatts, the ministry said.
Retail prices of fully imported cars after taking into account duties and taxes could reach a minimum of 300,000 MYR.
The ministry said that the new policy replaces Malaysia’s previous EV import policy following the end of excise and import duty exemptions which ran from 2021 until December last year. Cars already imported by distributors will not be affected by the new rule, it said.
By the definitions set out in the circular, China’s BYD, the world’s largest EV maker, is reconsidering its plans to set up an assembly plant in the Southeast Asian country due to regulations that restrict the amount of locally assembled cars that can be sold domestically.
