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Malaysia launches home-grown electric car as Chinese EV makers target market
- Proton’s new e.MAS7 model will face an influx of Chinese EVs as US and EU tariffs push manufacturers to pivot to Southeast Asia
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Malaysia has just launched one of its first home-grown electric cars, but analysts predict it will face stiff competition from a flood of Chinese EVs as manufacturers from China shift focus to Southeast Asia’s lucrative $100 billion market, driven by prohibitive tariffs in the US and EU.
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On Friday, national carmaker Proton unveiled their e.MAS7 – slated to be one of Malaysia’s first locally badged EVs – as part of the government’s strategy to make sure local firms can keep pace with the influx of foreign electric vehicles in the market.
Chinese carmakers have ramped up their search for alternative markets to sell their electric cars after the US in May imposed a 100 per cent tariff on EVs imported from China, the latest salvo in the ongoing US-China tech and trade war.
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The EU followed suit, imposing tariffs of up to 38 per cent effective July 4 on three Chinese brands – BYD, the world’s second-largest EV maker by sales volume, Geely and SAIC – after the bloc found that the companies had benefited from Beijing’s “unfair subsidisation” that threatened to undercut Europe’s EV sector.
The shift in Chinese focus is likely to drive higher EV sales in Asean, particularly in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia that offer favourable regulations and where partnerships are established between local and Chinese carmakers, according to Maybank Investment Bank.
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