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Hybrids in Malaysia


At the time of writing, the author Michael Tan has no knowledge of any green car incentives in Malaysia. The Honda Civic Hybrid has been available in Malaysia since 2004, but in the absence of tax breaks, sales of the hybrid have been poor to say the least. Malaysia's tax system penalizes Completely Built Up (CBU) imported vehicles, and for the 1.3L Honda Civic Hybrid, it will encounter a 50 percent import duty, 90 percent Excise Duty, and a 10 percent Sales Tax on the total taxed value of the car--10 percent of Car Value + Import Duty + Excise Duty.

The Civic Hybrid would cost RM137,280 to the dealer and lists for RM162,800. For that amount, one could buy a bigger Malaysia-assembled Honda Accord 2.4, with change to spare. A lack of public awareness of the environmental issue and hybrids in general may be stemming sales, and the situation is not helped by the confusing use of the term hybrid by local manufacturers like Naza in Malaysia which refers to dual-fuel systems as "hybrids".


Hybrids like the Honda Civic Hybrid have been around in Malaysia, but demand isn't catching up.
There may be another regrouping of effort by Honda Malaysia to revive interest in the Hybrid, ironically riding on the coat-tails of the Honda Civic Type R. In August, the company put up full-page advertisements in the newspapers and relaunched the car on August 3, 2007. The sales target for the Honda Civic Hybrid is set at 60 units a year by Honda's top brass, which is a very small number compared with the total quantity of cars sold. The world's largest Hybrid vehicle manufacturer Toyota has not announced any plans in Malaysia, presumably until a coherent green car incentive scheme launches in Malaysia. However, there is at least one Toyota Prius in Malaysia, brought in by a British couple at the princely cost of RM251,105.832, and dubbed the most expensive Prius in the world.

On the manufacturing front, the largest locally owned car manufacturer Proton has teamed up with its subsidiary Lotus Engineering to create a Hybrid Concept, the Gen2 EVE Hybrid. With Proton's lagging sales in international markets, its success lies chiefly in its local captive market and it would do well to lobby for green car tax breaks if this concept has any chance to get off the ground.

The Malaysian Government has also given grants to local institutions to develop hybrid technology together with local car manufacturers such as Proton and Perodua.


 
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