There has been much excitement, and speculation, since the announcement that Volkswagen has signed an MoU with DRB-Hicom to locally assemble cars at the latter’s Pekan plant. Everyone has their guesses (some incredibly sure) on the identity of the three models, but thanks to a statement from Volkswagen Group Malaysia (VGM), we now know that the list WILL NOT include models currently sold in Malaysia. Here’s the verbatim press statement:
Following the announcement in August on the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with DRB-HICOM Berhad to collaborate on local assembly, Volkswagen would like to reiterate the content of the MoU that both parties are still in the early stage of investigating local vehicle assembly. The joint plans envisage the production of Volkswagen models in Malaysia from 2012 onwards.
The matter is still under negotiations and as a policy, Volkswagen will not comment on ongoing discussions. Suffice it to say, the models / variants in negotiations to be locally assembled will not be the models which are currently offered in Malaysia.
VGM’s current range consists of the five-door Polo 1.2 TSI, New Beetle, Golf 1.4 TSI, Scirocco (160 PS/210 PS), Golf GTI, Passat CC, Eos, Tiguan and Touareg V6 SUV.
