![Mercedes-Benz: Malaysia's EV incentives catching up with Thailand, but 5-year plan needed if we're serious 01]()
Mercedes-Benz Malaysia reckons that although Thailand appears to be ahead of the region in terms of policies to boost EV adoption and localization, Malaysia is still more or less on par.
“If you are talking about localizing efforts or sales, I think both countries have an equal opportunity at the end of the day to showcase electric vehicles. I would say right now they are more or less on par, in terms of bringing more electric vehicle models, in terms of sales adoption, so let’s wait and see how this actually develop,” said Sagree Sardien, CEO & President of Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, at the sidelines of the launch of the Mercedes-Benz EQE.
Also Read: Mercedes-Benz EQE 350+ launched in Malaysia, RM 419k, 292 PS/565 Nm, RWD
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![Mercedes-Benz: Malaysia's EV incentives catching up with Thailand, but 5-year plan needed if we're serious 01]()
Vice-President Michael Jopp added that while yes, it is true that government policies is a reason why Thailand has announced localization plans (EQS) while Malaysia is still not yet able to do so, recent activities in the local EV space suggests that Malaysia is catching up fast.
“If you look at what happened in the last 12 months, I think we are on the right trajectory when it comes to electrification,” said Jopp, referring to the slew of announcements by EV charging service providers, including Mercedes-Benz’s partner Petronas Gentari.
Also Read: Malaysia will CKD a Mercedes-Benz EQ model in 2023 - first EV from Pekan
![Mercedes-Benz: Malaysia's EV incentives catching up with Thailand, but 5-year plan needed if we're serious 02]()
CEO Sardien said that the government’s decision to exempt battery EV models from import and excise taxes until 31-December 2023 (31-December 2025 for locally assembled CKD models) has encouraged Mercedes-Benz Malaysia to speed up the electrification of its local product portfolio, but she also noted that a longer-term plan is necessary.
“It’s good to have the policies and incentives but if you ask us, if you really want to give electric vehicles a boost you have to have a longer term planning. If you look to other countries, usually a 5- to 10-year plan definitely supports investment decisions because you don’t take short-term decisions. So our own encouragement to the local authorities would be to have a longer period for these incentives, and the second part would be continuing with all the electric vehicle charging initiatives. That has a huge place in giving customers confidence and ensuring the boost in electric vehicle adoption,” she said.
Mercedes-Benz Malaysia currently sells 5 fully electric EQ models, all imported from Germany:
Over 15 years of experience in automotive, from product planning, to market research, to print and digital media. Garages a 6-cylinder manual RWD but buses to work.
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