Malaysia ready to be ‘generous’ toward hybrid car makers

Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Ministry is ready to grant generous incentives to car manufacturers from both national and non-national assemblers to encourage the production of hybrid and cost-effective models for the Asean market, according to The Star newspaper.

Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the incentives would include tax exemption apart from the current customized incentives that were already in place for such industry players of hybrid cars.

 “These incentives are not only confined to foreign manufacturers but also to local assemblers who could come up with models that are energy-efficient and produce less carbon monoxide,” he told reporters after a stone-laying ceremony to mark the start of the second production line of Honda’s Pegoh plant in Alor Gajah, last week

Honda Malaysia will produce its Jazz Hybrid model for the Asian Oceania market segment for passenger cars from the plant, in the first such plant outside of Japan and the United States.

The plant is expected to start rolling out hybrid vehicles by the end of 2012 with a total production of 100,000 units annually and 800 units daily when the second production line is completed by next year.