BYD has officially entered Malaysia via a newly-formed company called BYD SD Motors Malaysia, a subsidiary under the Sime Darby group of companies.

The first model to be introduced by BYD is the BYD Atto 3, an electric SUV that’s roughly the size of a Proton X50. Prices of the Atto 3 start from RM 149,800, making it one of the most affordable electric vehicles (EV) in Malaysia.

Also Read: BYD Atto 3 launched in Malaysia; priced from RM 150k, X50-sized EV SUV, up to 480 km range

According to a BYD spokesperson, plans for CKD depends on government initiatives.

With that said, if BYD wants to take advantage of the tax-free period to locally assemble EVs in Malaysia, they have to make haste, as the exemption for import tax and excise tax is valid from 1-January 2022 until 31-December 2025. That's roughly 36 months left.

The import tax and excise tax exemption for fully imported (CBU) cars are set to expire on 31-December 2023.

Furthermore, we also asked BYD if they have plans for more models in Malaysia. They replied by saying “It’s not our intention to stop here [with the Atto 3], we are definitely going to introduce more models. To as which model [we will launch here], we are doing evaluations. When it is time, we will definitely share with you all.”

Also Read: Coming to Malaysia - BYD Seal, up to 700 km range, 530 PS

That being said, we will miss out on the handsome BYD Han EV sedan and BYD Tang EV SUV, seeing that BYD has no plans for right-hand drive versions of the aforementioned models. Never mind Malaysia, bigger markets like Australia will also miss out of the Han and Tang.

"But everything we're bringing in the right-hand-drive market is either on the 3.0 platform or future platforms, where the Han and the Tang are built on a different platform that is not coming to right-hand-drive markets,” said Luke Todd, managing director of EVDirect, BYD’s Australia importer and distributor.