NAP 2014 made industry stronger, to be updated this year: Frost & Sullivan

KUALA LUMPUR: Business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan believes the National Automotive Policy (NAP) 2014 has led to a stronger local automotive industry which is ready to open its market, but a revision or update is expected in the first half of 2018.
“(In) Two to three years time, the national players will no longer require any protectionism and will be able to compete in the market on their own,” said Frost & Sullivan senior vice-president of mobility Vivek Vaidya.
He was speaking during a presentation on the Malaysian automotive outlook for 2018 today.
Vivek said the update on NAP expected this year is to focus on aligning green vehicles and advanced manufacturing with global requirements.
Central to NAP 2014 is the vision for Malaysia to become an EEV hub in Asean, including the production of hybrids and electric vehicles.
“Under the current definition, most in the Malaysian automotive industry can easily be classified as EEV. We don’t see the clear benefit why someone should invest in new model and quality EEV.
“We want to watch out for NAP on any specific provisions made for hybrids and battery electric vehicles. The current EEV is a good start, we definitely need to see the next steps (for EEV) in NAP 2018,” said Vivek.
To attract more EEV manufacturers, he said Malaysia needs to offer new value propositions and clear benefits to car players on why they should invest here.
“If you provide a strong value proposition, Malaysia is still an attractive proposition for global players to invest in high tech manufacturing,” said Vivek.