马来西亚汽车业: 负担抑或催化剂 ?

冯镇安博士

汽车的费用一直是社会人士热烈讨论的课题。国际贸易及工业部长穆斯达法上个月再次公开重申，政府发出的进口汽车准证数额将保持在汽车销量的百分之10， 其中特许经营权持有者占百分之4。

为什么政府还要维持这种进口汽车准证的制度呢？为什么我国仍然需要保护过去40年来已经享有很多好处、而且还从这个制度中受惠的汽车业者呢？这些各种问题令我不得不提起笔来写下这篇文章。

回顾上个世纪70年代，许多试图迈向工业化的国家视汽车业为先驱工业。汽车是由数以百计的部件和零件组装，被视为可以刺激制造业活动，生产本地部件来取代进口部件（如轮胎、活塞等）的理想工业。

难怪马来西亚、印尼、菲律宾和泰国在看到日本和韩国的汽车制造业取得成功后，就积极推动和发展国内的汽车领域。从此，本田、万事达、纪亚的汽车牌子成为了我国仿效的汽车品牌。

1983年，当时的首相敦马哈迪设立了普腾国产车公司，与三菱公司合作制造国产车。1986年，我国第一个款型国产车普腾赛加（Proton Saga） 在市场上推出。1993年，第二国产车Perodua公司宣告成立，并且与日本大发公司合作生产了第二款国产车1300cc的灵鹿（ Perodua Kancil）

我国落实的汽车计划的主要目的是促进本地（尤其是土著）供应商的业务、制造工作机会、提升劳动力的专门知识，以及最终塑造具有本地特点的马来西亚汽车业。

关于普腾和第二国产车公司历史的文章已经不少，我不再多加探究其事。我要采取更全面的方法，去谈论这个受到诸多保护的行业。

1. 过去的挑战与愿望

马来西亚在制造国产车所面对的主要挑战是市场的问题。在上个世纪80年代初期，我国汽车市场每年销售的汽车是大约8万辆，比我国每年的最低有效产量10万辆稍微少。

不幸的是，80年代中期，全球陷入了严重的经济不景气。我国的汽车市场基于大量汽车款型和组装厂商受到打击而进一步恶化。

政府因而采取管制措施，以及提高对非国产汽车征收的税务，去纠正一切对国产车不利之处。

当然，这肯定造成了普腾赛加汽车和其他非国产车之间的价格出现很大的差距，普腾赛加因此在当时攫取了80% 以上的市场比重。其他的汽车厂商（例如代理日产的陈唱和代理本田的Oriental ）由于获得献议与普腾建立合伙关系，为普腾汽车制造部件和零件而得到补偿。

在1994年推出的第二国产车灵鹿也攫取了1300cc汽车市场相当大的比重，并且迅速崛起，在国产车领域扮演一个角色。

虽然国产车已经崛起，但是却产生了一个问题，马来西亚的汽车买主对汽车的选择限制因而被切断。

由于非国产车和进口部件的关税高昂，消费人如果选择购买本地组装的非国产汽车，就必须付出昂贵的费用；在实施准证制度后，各种进口款型的汽车价格更加昂贵。

表一是马来西亚和世界一些受欢迎的款型汽车的价格比较。

表 1:世界汽车价格比较

来源: 各厂商和汽车网站。
上述展示的价格根据2011年1月3日汇率和零售价格。
注:
1) 在中国销售的普腾 Gen 2 称为 Europestar L3。
2) 在马来西亚、泰国和台湾的本田 Jazz 装有 1.5 引擎。
3) 在新加坡、台湾和印度的福特 Fiesta 装有自动变速器。

表一显示了一些要点。在马来西亚市场销售的非国产品牌的汽车价格，自然比普腾或第二国产汽车昂贵很多。例如本田城市（1.5cc）的价格为85,480 令吉，比普腾 Gen2(1.6cc) 的价格高了 41%。

这些非国产品牌 (例如本田和福特) 的汽车在我国出售的价格当然也免不了比世界其他国家昂贵很多，反映出我国对这些汽车征收高昂税务，造成这些汽车在马来西亚市场的销售受到不利影响。

在这里，新加坡是一个例外。由于新加坡政府对每一辆汽车实施“拥车证”措施而导致该国汽车比其他国家的汽车价格昂贵很多。

令人感兴趣的另一个要点是，普腾和第二国产车公司却以比国内低的价格出口它们制造的汽车到其他国家。例如第二国产车Myvi 在英国的售价是36,792令吉，而在我国市场的售价是46,400令吉。这是否反映出，政府为普腾和第二国产车提供部分补贴的情况是我们必须说明的一个问题。

尽管非国产汽车的价格显著提高，为什么马来西亚汽车买主还是选择购买非国产品牌的汽车呢？他们会告诉你，这是因为国产品牌的汽车没有提供先进的安全功能。对于这个问题，我会在文章后面有更多的说明。

2.汽车 准证是在怎样的情况下出现，以及为什么出现

对于像汽车准证这样的制度，我国并没有一项明文规定的政策；不过，这项制度在70年代开始是鼓励土著参与二手车行业。这个举措和大部分人民的想法相违，因为这项措施的实施不只是保护普腾。今日，即使进口混合动力汽车或替代燃料汽车都需要准证，因为马来西亚目前没有混合动力汽车或替代燃料汽车的制造商。

汽车准证是一种发给销售完全不含本地部件的外国汽车供应商的执照。

汽车准证分为两种：开放式准证和特许经营准证。开放式准证允许持有人进口任何品牌的汽车，而特许经营准证规定持有人只能进口某个品牌汽车。

我国目前总共有76名开放式准证和37名特许经营准证的持有人。政府在2004年发出了51,559 张准证，而在2007年发出的准证总数则减少到 27,838 张。不过，在 2008 年，准证总数激增到 40,886 张，而在2009年再次减少到大约 20,000 张。

汽车准证制度在选择持有人方面并没有透明度的指南（按照定义，到底谁能够在牺牲消费人下，享有大量垄断经济利益的权利）。这项制度明显的引起了各方面的诸多批评。例如，在几个月前，联昌国际公司首席执行员拿督斯里纳兹在一项华人经济大会的午餐会上发表讲词时重申，汽车准证制度已经严重被滥用，应该立刻废除。

此外，由于这项准证制度完全没有竞争性，因此，它不符合世界贸易组织的规定。这项制度因而在许多国际贸易论坛上受到了激烈的批评。世界贸易组织三番四次呼吁政府废除这项制度，以便马来西亚出现一个更具竞争性和有效的汽车市场。

在这种情况下，政府于2006年誓言，在国家汽车政策下，汽车准证制度将在2010年12月31日之前逐步废除。

令人遗憾的是，后来在准证持有人不断及积极的游说下，国际贸工部在2009年提出了有关汽车准证的检讨报告。在检讨报告中，政府展延废除这项制度的期限；结果，开放式准证展延在2015年才终止，而特许经营准证在2020年才会逐步废除。

3. 马来西亚消费人的工业成本

马来西亚在过去5年的汽车销售量已经增加（参阅表二）；从2006年的490,768 辆增加到2010 年的605,156 辆。汽车销量大增，主要原因是我国具有低利息、条件宽大的贷款便利，而且政府为汽油价格提供大量的补贴。

表二：马来西亚汽车销售量 (以辆计算).

来源: 马来西亚汽车公会

表二显示普腾和第二国产车是主要的业者。两者总共占据市场大约 55% 的比重。

不过，表二也清楚说明：虽然国产车和非国产车品牌的价格有很大的差距，但是，非国产车品牌（尤其是丰田和本田）依然能够取得大量的市场比重（45%）。

这是什么原因呢?

总的来说，马来西亚的汽车买主愿意付出较高的价格购买非国产车品牌，因为这类汽车有更先进的功能，与普腾及第二国产车相比，它们更加可靠，而且维修费较低。

表三:拥有和使用汽车的每年费用

来源: 维基百科
上述展示价格根据2011年1月3日汇率和本地燃料价格。

另外，由于政府为汽油价格提供大量补贴，在马来西亚道路上使用汽车还是相当实惠的。表三显示，马来西亚的RON95汽油每公升1令吉90仙，而印度和英国分别是3令吉05仙和5令吉32仙。

假设一辆汽车有5年的寿命，平均每个月消耗400公升汽油，拥有和使用一辆福特Fiesta每年的费用是23,098令吉，而普腾 Gen2 的费用是21,218令吉。以费用差异幅度不大来看，非国产车品牌能够攫取本地汽车市场相当大的比重，并不令人感到意外。

表三也说明，以全球为基础，在马来西亚拥有和使用非国产车品牌（例如本田或福特）的费用，和泰国、中国或印度的费用差不多一样。例如，在马来西亚拥有和使用一辆本田西域，每年的费用是32,116 令吉，而在印度的费用是33,705 令吉，在泰国是30,224 令吉。这是因为马来西亚对这些品牌汽车征收高昂的税务，已经被我国汽车使用者享有的更大汽油补贴所抵消。

4. 不能与世界趋势接轨

虽然政府多次进行探究，以便和一家世界汽车公司建立策略合伙关系，但是，国产车公司拒绝对进口汽车实施 10% 关税最高额，说明我国的汽车业和世界其他国家是多么的不接轨。

在国内长期实施高度保护措施下，我国的国产车厂商没有得到奖励，同时也没有要迫切进行革新，以便成为汽车工业的领跑者。

普腾成立至今已经25年，它仍然生产主要仿效其他厂商制造的款型的传统汽车。

即使是传统汽车，普腾制造的车辆在质量和安全方面，都不符合世界的标准。例如，很多人没有察觉到，内阁部长目前所使用的普腾制造的官方汽车，都没有装上气囊；幸好，这些官方车至少装上了安全带。

更重要的是，随着石油价格的暴涨，世界现在趋向于迅速发展和采用具备先进科技的电气化、混合动力以及替代燃料的车辆。

2010年，全世界总共售卖了超过4千万辆混合动力以及燃料替代的车辆。

在生产使用灵活燃料的车辆方面，巴西是领跑国。2010年，巴西售出了1千零60万辆这类的车辆，接着是美国，售卖了930万辆。在生产混合动力汽车方面，美国是世界的领跑国，它在2010年总共生产1千8百多万辆混合动力汽车，而日本排第二位，总共生产110万辆。

在发展天然石油气汽车方面，巴基斯坦领先世界所有的国家。2009年，巴基斯坦生产了240万辆这类汽车，接着是伊朗，共生产170万辆。

泰国和中国目前正在积极制造混合动力汽车。

在这方面，马来西亚完全不能和世界同步平行。

由于我国还没有组装或制造混合动力汽车，我国人民如果要购买这种汽车，就必须先获取准证才能进口。然而，政府实际上已经废除对所有 2,000cc 以下的混合动力汽车征收进口税。

此外，为了支持使用替代燃料的汽车，我国必须制定一项国家制度，以便供应充足的替代燃料（例如天然石油气）。对于电气化或混合动力汽车，我国就得制定一项制度，以方便这类汽车在大道上充电，而且让这些具备先进科技的电池得以进行维修。

新汽车准证并没有说明，为发展辅助基本部件的厂商制定策略或奖励。

总之，目前实施的准证制度不但成为了我国汽车车主的负担，而且也妨碍我国汽车业，和全球迈向发展和使用环保汽车的趋势接轨。

5. 向前迈进

经过实施30多年的保护措施之后，马来西亚政府现在必须采取果敢的步骤，对汽车工业进行改革；使这个行业转型为一个催化性工业，以促进国家的发展，就好像我国的电气与电子领域在上个世纪70年代所取得的进展一样。

政府已经宣布有意在2015年废除开放式准证，而在2020年废除特许经营准证。不过，正如我之前所说的一样，设定2015年和2020年为废除准证的期限，比原定的2010年，已经展期了。

让我国的汽车买主等到2015年和2020年才享有汽车市场完全开放的好处，对他们来说是一个巨大的负担，尤其是对找到第一份工作而需要购买第一辆汽车的年轻人而言。

也许，政府应该考虑提早在2015年撤销准证制度。此外，我国必须考虑到，全球制造的2千万辆传统汽车 的产量已经过剩，因此，政府也应该使它对汽车业的雄心降温。

汽车工业需要付出昂贵的研发开销，而很多国家在迈向新的汽车趋势方面，已经远远超越我国。如果没有进行革新以及同新趋势接轨，即使是巨大的汽车公司，例如福特和通用汽车公司都会失败。

毫无疑问的，政府为普腾和第二国产车公司制造的传统汽车提供20多年的保护后，我国如今不能够再为它们提供另外20年的保护，以期望它们生产具备先进科技的环保汽车。

我国应该以中国和泰国的成功作为借鉴，制定一项为外来直接投资商提供开放汽车工业的策略，并且鼓励世界最好的汽车厂商与本地厂商合作，进而使本地伙伴成为汽车市场的领跑者。

我国制定全球销售策略后，将能够崛起为新的主要供应链，尤其是为中国的庞大市场供应拥有先进科技的汽车部件。

我促请政府迅速废除进口混合动力汽车和替代燃料汽车所需要的准证，作为即刻进行的步骤。政府也应该为买主提供税务奖励（例如削减双重税务），鼓励他们使用这类汽车。

与此同时，政府应该逐步撤销对汽油价格提供的补贴，迫使传统汽车使用者面对燃料价格高涨的事实。

由于我国拥有庞大的天然气蕴藏量，政府也应该采取立即的步骤，为使用天然石油气的汽车制定一项国家天然石油气供应制度。这对促进燃料替代车辆的使用，是非常重要的。

推动马来西亚汽车行业转型，使它从依赖传统汽车转为生产环保汽车，以及撤销继续保护普腾和第二国产车的措施，而使我国拥有一个开放的汽车市场。这些举措才是首相为我国汽车车主以及广大民众提供的最受欢迎的礼物。

（完）
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Malaysian Automobile Industry: Burden or Catalyst?

by Dr Fong Chan Onn

The cost of cars is always a hot topic of social discussions. Just last month, the International Trade and Industry (MITI) Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed had again to publicly reiterate that the number of Approved Permits (AP) for imported cars was still being kept at 10% of car sales, with 4% for franchise holders.

Why is the Government still maintaining the AP System? Why is there still a need to protect the industry players who have benefitted so much over the last 4 decades or so that the system has been in place? These and other issues have spurred me to pen this article.

Back in the 70’s, the automotive industry was seen as the forerunner industry for countries attempting to industrialize. The automobile contains hundreds of components, and was considered the ideal industry that can stimulate manufacturing activities based on the substitution of imported components (tires, pistons etc) with local parts.

Thus, it is no wonder that Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand pushed to develop this sector after seeing the successes it had in Japan and Korea. Honda, Mazda, Kia became brand names longed to be emulated by us.

In 1983 Tun Dr Mathathir Mohamad, the then Prime Minister, established Proton to build the national car in collaboration with Mitsubishi. And the legendary Proton Saga was rolled out in 1986 as the first model of our national car (NC). In 1993 Perodua was established and, in collaboration with Daihatsu, launched the Perodua Kancil as the second NC serving the 1300cc car segment.

The main objective of the automotive vision was to spin off local (particularly Bumiputra) suppliers, create job opportunities, upgrade the know-how of our workforce, and ultimately to create a local identity for the Malaysian automobile sector.

As there have been numerous articles written on the history of Proton and Perodua, I will not dwell into the subject. Rather I would like to take a more holistic approach to discuss this much-protected sector.

1. Past Challenges and Aspirations

The main challenge for Malaysia to build the national car was market size. In the early 1980s, the Malaysian market for passenger vehicles was about 80,000 units per year – slightly less than the minimum efficient size for automobile manufacture of 100,000 units per year.

Unfortunately, the mid-1980s also saw the world going into a deep recession. And the Malaysian automobile market was further worsened by the fragmentation of a large number of auto models and assemblers.

The Government remedied the shortfalls by using licensing procedures together with high tariffs for non-national car (NNC) models.

This, of course, resulted in substantial price differences between Proton Saga and other NNC models, enabling the Saga to capture over 80% of the market share then. The other car manufacturers (eg Tan Chong for Nissan and Oriental for Honda) were compensated by being offered partnerships with Proton for the manufacture of Proton components and parts.

The Perodua Kencil, launched in 1994, also captured a large share of the 1300cc car market, and quickly emerged to be part of the national automobile scene.

Notwithstanding the emergence of the NCs, the main issue, ironically, was a sever constraint on choices for Malaysian car buyers.

With high tariffs on NNC CKDs and imported components, consumers are penalized heavily if they choose to buy these (locally-assembled) NNC models; and with the AP system in place, the prices for the imported models are even higher.


Table 1 compares the prices of several popular brands of cars in Malaysia and the world.

Table 1: Comparison of Car Prices in the World

Source: Various manufacturers and automotive portal websites.
The above displayed values are based on the 3nd Jan 2011 exchange rate and retail prices.
Notes:
1) Proton Gen 2 is marketed as Europestar L3 in China.
2) Honda Jazz is fitted with 1.5-engine in Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan.
3) Ford Fiesta is fitted with automatic transmission in Singapore, Taiwan, and India.

Several important points emerged from Table 1. The prices of NNC brands, naturally, are substantially higher than that of Proton or Perodua in the Malaysian market. For example, the Honda City(1.5cc) priced at RM85,480 is 41% higher than Proton Gen2(1.6cc).

The prices of these NNC brands (such as Honda and Ford), of course, are also substantially higher in Malaysia than the rest of the world, reflecting the adverse impact of our high duties on these cars in the Malaysian market.

Singapore is the exception here. Its car prices are far higher than other countries due to the cost of the “quota permit” being imposed on each car.

Another interesting point is that Proton and Perodua are being exported to other countries at prices even lower that the home market. For example, the Perodua Myvi is being market in UK for RM36,792 compared to the home price of RM46,400. Whether this reflects export subsidy on the part of Proton and Perodua is an issue for us to reflect on.

Why would Malaysian car buyers choose NNC brands inspite of their substantially higher prices? They will tell you that it is because of the advanced safety features not available in NC brands. I will elaborate more on this issue later.

2. How APs Came About and Why

There is no written policy as such on the AP system; but it evolved in the 1970s initially to encourage Bumiputra participation in the used-car industry. Contrary to what most people think, it was not introduced merely to protect Proton. Today, even the imports of hybrid or alternative-fuel cars require APs as there are no hybrid or alternative-fuel car manufacturers in Malaysia.

An AP is a license issued to a vendor to sell foreign cars with no local content.

There are two categories namely, Open APs and Franchise APs. An Open AP allows the holder to import a car of any brand, whilst a Franchise AP ties the holder to a particular brand.

There are currently 76 Open APs and 37 Franchise AP holders. The total number of APs issued was 51,559 in 2004, decreasing to 27,838 in 2007. But in 2008 it spiked to 40,886 before being reduced again to about 20,000 in 2009.

The AP System, with no transparent guidelines on the selection of holders (who, by definition, enjoy substantial monopolistic economic gains at the expense of consumers), has obviously aroused a lot of criticisms. For example, several months ago, Dato Seri Nazir Razak (the CEO of CIMB) in his luncheon address to the Chinese Economic Congress, reiterated that the AP system has been severely abused and should be abolished immediately.

Further, because of the anti-competitive nature of the AP System it is deemed to be non-WTO compliance. Hence the AP System has also been severely criticized at many international trade forums. WTO has repeatedly urged the Government to abolish the system so that so that a more competitive and efficient automobile market can emerge in Malaysia.

It is under such a scenario that the Government pledged in 2006, under the National Automobile Policy (NAP), that the AP System will be phased out by 31 Dec 2010.

Unfortunately, subsequent intense lobbying by the AP holders resulted in a Review of the NAP in 2009 by MITI. Under the Review the Government postponed the phasing out datelines; the Open APs will now be terminated by 2015 and franchise APs will only be phased out by 2020.

3. Cost of Industry to Malaysian Consumer

Cars sales in Malaysia over the last 5 years have surged (see Table 2); increasing from 490,768 units in 2006 to 605,156 units in 2010. This surge has largely being facilitated by easy availability of credit at low interest rates, and a high level of subsidy on petrol prices.

Table 2. Malaysian Car Sales (in units).

Table 2 shows that Proton and Perodua are the main players. Together they command about 55% of the market share.

But the Table also shows the obvious; and that is despite the big price differences between NC and NNC brands, NNC brands (especially Toyota and Honda) have still managed to acquire a substantial share (at 45%) of the market.

Why is this so?

Generally, Malaysian car buyers are prepared to pay the initial higher prices for the NNC brands because of their more advanced features, resulting in better reliability and lower maintenance costs compared to Proton or Perodua.

Table 3: Annual Cost of Owning and Running a Car

Source: Wikipedia

The above displayed values are based on the 3nd Jan 2011 exchange rates and local fuel prices.

Further, because of the large subsidy on petrol prices, the cost of running a car on the road in Malaysia is relatively affordable. As Table 3 shows the price of one liter of RON95 is RM1.90 in Malaysia, compared to RM3.05 in India and RM5.32 in UK.

Assuming a 5-year life span for a car, and an average consumption of 400 liters per month, the cost of owning and running a Ford Fiesta is RM23,098/year compared to Proton Gen2’s RM21,218/year. At this range of minimal cost differences, it is not surprising that NNC brands can still command a sizeable share of the local automobile market.

Table 3 also shows that, on a global basis, the cost of owning and running a NNC (such as Honda or Ford) is about the same in Malaysia as in Thailand, China or India. For example, the cost of owning and running a Honda Civic for a year is RM32,116 in Malaysia compared to RM33,705 in India and RM30,224 in Thailand. This is because the higher taxes levied on these brands in Malaysia have been offset by the greater subsidies Malaysian car users enjoy at the pumps.

4. Disconnect with World Trends

The 10% ceiling on imported cars, and the fact that Proton has refused, despite repeated probing by the Government, to conclude a strategic partnership with a world automobile company demonstrate just how disconnected our car industry is with the rest of the world.

Under a regime of prolonged high domestic protection, our national car manufacturers have neither the incentives nor the urgency to innovate and be front-runners of the automobile industry.

After over 25 years since its formation, Proton is still manufacturing conventional cars based largely on replications of other manufacturers’ models.

Even in conventional cars, its makes are not up to world benchmarks in terms of quality and safety. For example, not many people realize that the official Proton cars currently used by Cabinet Ministers are not even equipped with air bags; mercifully, these official cars at least have safety belts!

More importantly, with surging oil prices, the world trend now is rapid development and utilization of advanced technology electric, hybrid or alternative-fuel vehicles.

In 2010, more than 40 million hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles have been sold worldwide.

Brazil is the leading nation in the production of flexible-fuel vehicles. In 2010 it sold 10.6 million units of such vehicles, followed by US with 9.3 million units. The U.S. is the world’s leader in term of hybrid cars; producing more than 1.8 million units of such cars in 2010, followed by Japan with 1.1 million units.

In the development of natural-gas cars Pakistan is a world leader. In 2009 it produced 2.4 million of such cars, followed by Iran with 1.7 million units.

Thailand and China are now aggressively manufacturing hybrid cars.

In Malaysia we are totally out-out-sync.

Because hybrid cars are still not been assembled or manufactured locally, a Malaysian consumer wanting to buy a hybrid will have to get an AP first before he can import the car. This is despite the fact that the Government has already abolish all levies on the import of these models below 2,000cc.

Further, to support the utilization of alternative-furl cars we need to develop a national system for the supply of such fuel (eg natural gas). For electric or hybrid cars we need to develop a system for the convenient electrical charging of the batteries on the highways, as well as repairs and maintenance of these advanced technology batteries.

The NAP has not specified strategies or incentives for the development of these supporting infrastructures.

In summary, the current protective AP System is not only a burden to Malaysian car owners. It also hinders the Malaysia automobile industry from being connected with the global trend towards the development and utilization of green cars

5. Moving Forward

After over three decades of protection, the Malaysian government must take bold steps to reform the automotive industry; to transform it into an open catalytic industry enhancing the development of the country, just like what the electrical and electronics (E&E) sector has done since the 1970s.

The Government has declared its intention to abolished Open AP by 2015 and Franchise AP by 2020. However, as pointed out earlier, even the 2015 and 2020 targets are already a postponement of the original target of 2010.

The argument for postponing the abolishment of AP was again to give the relevant automobile players time to adjust to the new reality.

I personally feel that Malaysian consumers have been paying far too much for the sustenance of the livelihood of these key players; including their recent outrageously lavish wedding banquets!

Requiring the Malaysian car buyers to wait until 2015 and 2020 for the sector to be completely open up is a huge burden for them, particularly for the youths with their first jobs and seeking to buy their first cars.

The Government should consider phasing out the entire AP System earlier say by 2015.

Further, considering that there is now a global excess manufacturing capacity of 20 million units of conventional cars, we should also be less ambitious with our automotive industry.

The sector requires huge expenditure on R&D, and many countries are already far ahead of us in the new automotive trends. Without innovation and connection to the new trends even giants like Fords and General Motors have failed.

Needless to say, after over 20 years of protection being accorded to Proton and Perodua in conventional cars, we cannot afford giving them another 20 years of further protection hoping that they will come up with advanced technology green cars.

Following upon the successful experience of China and Thailand, our strategy should be to open up the sector to FDIs, and encourage the best global automobile manufactures, in collaboration with local partners, to be the leaders in the market.

With their global marketing strategies, Malaysia can emerge to be a focal point of their new supply-chains particularly for the supply of components for advanced technology cars for the huge China market.

As immediate steps, I urge the Government to quickly abolish the AP requirement for the import of hybrid and alternative fuel cars. It should also accord tax incentives (such as double tax deduction) to buyers to utilize such vehicles.

At the same time subsidies on the petrol prices should be gradually removed, to compel conventional car users to adapt to the reality of high fuel prices.

Given our large reserves of natural gas, we should also take immediate steps to establish a national natural-gas supply system for natural-gas cars. This infrastructure is crucial for the mass utilization of this alternative fuel vehicle.

Transforming the Malaysian automobile industry away from our dependence on conventional cars towards green vehicles, as well as steering away from our continued protection of Proton and Perodua to an open automobile market, would be the most welcomed gifts that our much-cherished Prime Minister can bestow to Malaysian car users and the Malaysian public at large.

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