The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has sent a letter to the Road Transport Department (RTD) to inform them that Wald-tuned vehicles are now allowed to be registered again.
The freeze on the issuance of APs for the Wald marque to Amazing Tempo Sdn Bhd had also been lifted. This means Amazing Tempo Sdn Bhd can now resume business.
The report by Malay Mail did not state what happened to investigations on Amazing Tempo Sdn Bhd’s non-compliance with import procedures, which included allegations of underdeclaring car prices to avoid tax. More details here.
Related Posts:
Why did MITI stop issuing APs to Walds Amazing Tempo Sdn Bhd?
Amazing Tempo Sdn Bhd’s press statement regarding AP freeze
MITI stopped issuing APs for Wald
Source: The Malay Mail
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what a news!
this is a job for x-files or csi to uncover the truth
This sounds like a job for CSI: #mybloggers !
*** cues music ***
lols
I've smell this thing coming. RFDah has come to the rescue! B***ch!
As in underdeclaring car prices, well, anybody who got APs can take the advantage and make use of so many LOOPHOLES in Royal Custom import regulations and procedures.
NAZA has been doing it a long time, isn't that right, SM Nasim?
Am again getting confused … refer Yamin Vong ( Sunday Times today ) … he talks about the tax being based on the " Customs docket price " and not on the declared value … this means that if a car is imported at a tax level that is lower than what should have been paid, then the Customs are the ones who have made a mistake … and not the importer (?)
Also, having read his article, and perhaps fitting into the mould of those who he calls upon to let go of the " green eyed monster ", I still cannot see the reason for a money printing machine being available to only a few, when the people contributing to this in higher car prices, is the overwhelming majority of Malaysians of all walks of life. Possibly he has taken too simplistic a view by trying to blame it all on pure jealousy, and is himself prepared to keep on paying to obscenely enrich a few, thereby guaranteeing the permanence of things like the revival of the NEP, when the masses want their dues.
Sorry – straying from Wald – but this whole issue is ONE BIG RELATED MESS.
Just a stupid RFD politics trick…
aik?pusing pusing tang tue balik.ish..serabut
Well the whole AP thing is really a big mess.. played out by TunM an his followers to rock the AB admninistration. Of course, we would all be happy at first as it shows weaknesses in the system that requires improvement. It is not about scrapping AP, as AP is only a means, not only car but many other stuffs (as long as they are imported).
How do we use the AP system to get better deal out for car buyers.. that's it. What happens now is tyhat cars are going very exp[ensive.. eeven more than that early in the year.
And in this way, we could only afford P1 and P2, or any of the NAZA's CKDs. Investement that is wau nehind time.
'we want hybird. we want it now!!'
A contact in the car industry once outlined that Wald-badged VWs were being sold way under their proper prices, which incensed all other car retailers. It seems Malaysia was the only place in the world where a VW Touareg costed less than a comparable Volvo XC90. Apparently their prices needed to be hundreds of thousands of RM higher in order to be in line with the law. So it'll be curious to see how much the things cost now.
If they do end up higher, as is only logical, then all those people who bought Wald VWs before the crackdown have something to feel mighty good about.
holy_cow… That's great comparison, my friend in VSW Australia bought Tuoareg 2.5 TDI for AUD 75K. I checked Volvo XC90 price in Australia, is just under AUD 70K.
I am not a Volvo perso, so this is not a big problem for me. How did this happen? Under declare? Wish I had bought VW Wald before instead of the Toyota Wald Wish now, but than again, I am happy with the performance of the Wish tune up and the warranty they offer. Kinda stuck with it anyway.
One of my office collaeague bouth Toyota Wish from dealer that she has problem servicing it as it is not under Toyota warranty. (I think she bought from a NAZA dealer).
I propose diesel to be taxed less, especially if biodiesel could be used as substitute.
still, hybrid would be good.. to be the next technological advancement..
vws car pricelist in deutschland:appr.xchange rate.1€=4.67rm
golf 5 1.6 FSI=€17825
golf 5 2.0 FSI=€22500
golf 5 GTI=€24200
golf 5 R32 4motion=€32300
touareg V6=€41450
touareg V8=€60500
how much touareg cost in msia actually??..and last time i checked in mid valley,..the red gti cost bout 264000rm…
Amazing Tempo sold the 3.2 V6 at RM438K or so, that would be luxury spec, quite a few options. Let's say it costs about Euros 45K, although I suspect it's more. Those options (leather, sunroof, heated wing mirrors + seats, auto-dimming rearviewmirrors, climate control, keyless start) probably push it closer to Euros 50K.
But nevermind, let's go with 45K. That means about RM210K in direct translation…after taxes (apparently…I don't know this for myself, only quoting others) of around 200%, the car ought to weigh in at >RM600K. Quite different from the price they were selling it at, no?
touareg ?
i heard ppl say its 800k?
That's the V10 TDI. Can you imagine? A V10 diesel for 800K. Now that I think about it, it's fishy as hell.
ofcourse its been lifted no surprise…thy jus wanted to keep the public shut for a while….
Latest exchange rate 1 euro = RM 4.58
2dr Golf Gti – 27,000 euro in Ireland..
Cheers!
with that kinda pricetag….but still theres msian who can afford to buy it….respect..!
pui pui pui..
cronies, fark u
Isn't Tuoareg really a cheaper version of Porsche Cayenne with different tops?
Anywhay, I think there's 2 lingo here. holy-cow says its too cheap (illegal/fishy under legal prives? Wahy are we complaining. weilun, deutsch etc say its too expensive.
Well, I am on for cheaper car, that's what globalisation is all about, cheaper products in our shore, and not competing with Proton (TunM can correct me). If they (Amazing Tempo) can shell car cheaper than everyone else, why not ask them to import all cars!! Then we get cheaper car on the road. Not like these other importers AP Kings bla bla bla Rafidah cronies who only think of selling cars very expensive. Milk money from people. Even Korean Hyundai, Kia or Ssangyong are expensive! Build more CKD car factories, but all old technology!
In Australia, Tuareg 3.2 V6 is AUD 70K (The 2.5 TDI luxury stuff about AUD 75K). Say the 3.2 V6 is then RM 200K. That's reasonable for someone to bring it back to Malaysia (using ex-patriot AP !!?? hah hah) after a few years.
In Msia its RM438K. That's way too expensive, double mahh. Anyway, I'll never afford it, so dreaming on.
Anyway, ALL atr petrol guzzlers!
we want hybird (we want it now!!)
The thing is, the reason Amazing Tempo could sell their cars so cheap was not because they found some magical way to import them cheaply, but because they were cheating on the value declaration at customs. So (no doubt with the aid of some corrupt customs officials) instead of declaring the value of their Touaregs at the real price, let's say abour GBP30,000, they'd declare at around GBP20,000. Since the taxes are based on that declared value, they will then pay lower taxes.
Basically, they were breaking the law and encouraging corruption, which is why other car companies that wish to stay legit can't bring in cars as cheaply as they could. In any case, Amazing Tempo were more guilty of milking profits than any other car retailer, or so I've been told.
Now while many of us believe that the import duties etc etc levied on cars in our country are too high, the fact remains that all the carmakers have to adhere to those rules, so by cheating the system Amazing Tempo was swindling all the other car companies, which is why they got pissed off. One guy I know in the industry said they were declaring their Touaregs at closer to GBP10,000 and this means that after taxes the price would be only around RM210,000, so by charging RM438,000 they were swindling the consumers too. Their profit margin must have been ridiculous.
It's said that they didn't actually buy the models off Volkswagen AG officially, instead getting them cheaply from a huge VW clearing house in Dubai. Which means the cars might not even have been officially supported by VW sales and services, even though Amazing Tempo claimed otherwise. Furthermore, their website is http://www.vwmalaysia.com. Now, try typing in http://www.vw.com.my and http://www.volkswagen.com.my and both will take you to the Volkswagen Asia site. But type in http://www.vwmalaysia.com and you get Amazing Tempo – I doubt VW would be happy with that sort of confusion as far as their URLs go. If they are an official presence for VW, why not lend them one of those two .com.my domains, since VW owns them already?
So, if it's true, they were cheating the govt., cheating other carmakers, cheating VW and cheating their customers. All this I know only from hearsay, of course, but if even half of it is true, it's easy to see why people were out to get Amazing Tempo's blood.
Well, there is an article by the editor of last sunday Car, Bike & Truck section in
New Strait Times that may enlightened some of you out there about this current AP issue.
From there u may figure out the type of APs allowed by our government & you may start
to point your collective finger somewhere else( notably our Kastam dept etc).
We talk as though Amazing Tempo is and has been the only doing this (under-declaring) when I'm pretty sure they're not. There are so many importers and AP's issued. Just to compare, look at how much Tan Chong is selling the 350Z (500k+) and I'm quite sure you can find cheaper ones from other grey importers. You're telling me the other importers can get it from Nissan cheaper? I don't think so. Under-declaring has been going on a long time. It's only now that it has surfaced. I'm sure the Tun would have also known about it when he was still PM. He's only creating a ruckus now because his blue-eyed boy Mahaleel got asked to leave Proton.
I heard that it was actually the car retailers that banded together and tried to cement Amazing Tempo's downfall – not Dr. M. Of course, I don't know any of this for sure, but perhaps their under-declaring was on a much grander and more audacious scale than before, enough to worry the mainstream retailers?
so, the show ended here?
scene 1: ward kena block
scene 2: under investigation
scene 3: tak cakap apa apa, just be shut up…
scene 4: hurray!! rafidah the bull come to rescue!!
scene 5: open business again!!
actually, this only show that our govt always tiger head, snack tail.
very sien…
Touaregs …@ RM355 000…
Singapore used to be the world most expensive country to own a vehicle!
Now, the podium belongs to Msia…..crappy 'shEEt'….
A car is a consumer product NOT an ASSET…selling @ sky high prices!
Fark those balrdy rich ppl, why dont thay go for enviromental friendly vehicles rather than big and useless gas guzzler that they simpan at their garage to rot?.
Aye to 'Environmentally friendly vehicle' anytime, bacause they save fuel cost. And heck, thay are defitinely cleaner that our smoky bussess. Let's have electric busses!!
As for WALD/Anazing Tempo stuff, I came across these in theedgedaily.com
http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=co…
That Tengku fella said bla bla about tune up cars /Tuner cars.. hmm. If they perform better than non tune up cars, and save fuel, I am for it.
Car dealers gang-up against Amazing Tempo? I think you probably mean open AP holders that have no showroom and profit from selling open APs to dealers hah hah. Like the one complaining in the paper that he got no open AP this year.. all gone. That fellow probably has showroom under a tree!! We have to get rid of Open AP, reserve only for those working/studying overseas (or MPs… only after they have bought two Proton brand new). Open AP is baddd… The Franchise AP well, if they can bring it cheaper cars to Malaysia. WHY NOT. I think when the main 3 AP Kings got too greedy (like all they own almost all the companies what!!?), this is getting really bad. Give some away looo. Anyone willing to buy our the companies?? Rafidah syas the company mjst be 70% bumi, so anyone want to partner with me?
Than I bring in HYBRID car AP, why not.. he he
another soap opera of our dirty politic here in Malaysia…NOT FUN :( …we will match the corruption of our brotherland indon soon.
I wasn't talking about Open AP holders, actually. I was talking about Franchise AP holders, some of whom happen to be actual arms of the car companies themselves rather than local representatives. If Amazing Tempo really was cheating, even BMW Malaysia or Volvo Malaysia or Toyota Malaysia won't be able to compete, despite being divisions of BMW International, Volvo International and Toyota International. Why? How to compete, when Amazing Tempo are importing cars worth GBP30,000 but paying only GBP15,000 worth of taxes? When any official franchise AP holder imports a car, they have to pay up on all the taxes or risk international corruption scandals like the one that caught VW off-guard recently.
The point I'm trying to make here is this: I have it on good authority that nobody can bring cars in as cheaply as Amazing Tempo did without breaking the law. So are you saying everyone should break the law now?
And that Edge article was one-sided, under-researched and overall a wasted opportunity. Even the business angle was not fully explored.