MAA: Only 10 EVs sold in Malaysia in Jan 2022 while Indonesia sold 3x more
CY Foong · Mar 28, 2022 02:00 PM
0
0
At the recent Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) Annual General Meeting, the organization has revealed some more detailed sales data for January 2022 to members of the media. This time it has compiled the sales data of vehicles across the ASEAN region including electric vehicle (EV) sales.
However, the data compiled by MAA isn’t complete as only a few countries compiled monthly EV sales data. For instance, Thailand only submits its EV data on a quarterly basis while other markets like Singapore and Vietnam have not compiled their own EV sales data.
Countries that have listed their respective EV sales data are Malaysia and Indonesia with both countries selling 10 and 36 units of electric vehicles respectively in January 2022. Though it might seem like Malaysia is once again lagging compared to our neighbour, it is worth noting that Indonesia has a bigger automotive market compared to ours.
According to the data compiled by MAA, the Philippines sold 114 EVs in the same month which puts the country as the highest in terms of EV sales. However, this figure might also include hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and electric commercial vehicles.
According to the sales data, Indonesia is the largest vehicle market in ASEAN for January with 84,098 units sold. This is followed by Thailand (69,455 units), Malaysia (40,581 units), and Vietnam (30,742 units). 250,627 vehicles were sold all over ASEAN in January 2022 which is a 25 percent increase compared to the same period in 2021.
The DFSK Gelora E, also sold in Malaysia as the CAM EC35
Bear in mind that the total sales figures include passenger vehicles as well as commercial vehicles. The sales data of electric vehicles might also include commercial EVs aside from private ones.
Most charging stations around ASEAN are still mostly confined to urban and suburban areas around major cities like these in Thailand
As for the region’s EV sales, it is still quite small as the infrastructure isn’t quite up to speed around ASEAN. Some governments have been trying to introduce initiatives and subsidies to encourage the use of EVs.
The Malaysian government, for its part, had announced during Budget 2022 that battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will be exempted from both import and excise tax until 2023 for fully-imported vehicles (CBU) and 2025 for locally-assembled (CKD) models.
Furthermore, buyers are also eligible for personal income tax rebates of up to RM 2,500 when purchasing/leasing/subscribing to a BEV charging service or device as well as have their road tax waived to zero (until 2025). Based on the small number of units sold (0.02% of total sales for Jan 2022), are these initiatives really enough to encourage the use of EVs or are they just window dressing?
Traded advertising for a career that fits his passion for cars. Enjoys spotting cars during his free time and has a soft spot for Japanese Kei cars but drives a thirsty manual sedan.
