Frost & Sullivan which is “mildly positive” on growth of total industry volume (TIV) for vehicles in 2019, said a strong incentive policy is required for electric vehicles (EVs) to take off in Malaysia. “Currently what we are waiting for is if the (NAP) National Automotive Policy mentions anything about EV. Unless there is a strong policy coming up focused on EV, otherwise we will not see any major uptake in EV sales in Malaysia,” said associate partner and senior vice president of mobility at Frost & Sullivan, Vivek Vaidya.
He said the uptake for EV will also depend on factors such as incentives for manufacturers, forward distributors and customers coupled with the development of infrastructure for charging stations. Vivek added that there is a possibility of the new national car being an EV given leads of it being low energy and technology neutral.
A survey carried out by Frost & Sullivan found that 30% of its respondents were willing to consider EVs even though such vehicles are yet to make a presence in Malaysia, signaling a latent demand for EVs.
On the overall automotive market, Vivek expects Malaysia to registers vehicle sales of 609,700 units in 2019, 1.4% growth against 601,300 units in 2018, driven by growth in domestic consumption, private investments and new model launches.
The passenger vehicle segment is expected to perform better than the commercial vehicle segment, which is likely to be impacted by low public spending.
The passenger vehicle volume is projected to grow to 544,121 units in 2019 from 536,371 units in 2018, while the commercial vehicle volume is estimated to rise to 65,579 units from 64,929 units.
Worth noting is that demand for vehicles went up by 4.2% during the tax holiday period last year.
“Usually after a tax break period, the volume shrinks in the subsequent quarter but in 2018, strong consumer sentiment ensured Q4 volume matched last year figures to end the year on a positive note,” Vivek said.