As the new national car project (NNCP) rumbles on behind the scenes, various states will be vying to host prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s desired project. One such state is Melaka, which has offered to be the NNCP production hub.
The federal government will consider it, said entrepreneur development minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof, who added that the chosen location should have sufficient infrastructure and entrepreneurs. “In Melaka, I think Alor Gajah is one of the suitable places,” he told reporters on Saturday.
Mohd Redzuan is the MP for Alor Gajah, which also houses Honda’s Malaysian plant. The minister also pointed out that Melaka already hosts Composites Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM), a composites and aerospace research company that was named as one of the Malaysian companies shortlisted to participate in the NNCP, along with semiconductor manufacturer SilTerra.
“If more Melaka entrepreneurs want to develop together, it could be one of the destinations we would promote to investors, but it’s up to the investors to decide and we can’t force them. What is available in the state fits in well with the new national car, which will use more advanced materials,” he said.
“For the new national car project, we already have suitable industrial areas that can be developed into an automotive industry hub,” said Melaka’s industry, trade and investment committee chairman Mohd Rafiq Naizamohideen, who added that the state government is prepared to bring a federal government representative to visit suitable locations or send one of its own reps to Putrajaya to explain the options available in Melaka.
To recap, earlier this month, Mohd Redzuan announced the timelines for the NNCP – the new national car’s name will be announced by the end of this year, while the prototype for the NNCP model is expected to be ready by early next year, ahead of a 2020 roll out. The car is expected to feature semi-autonomous capabilities and advanced safety features, while remaining affordable.
The NNCP announcement came as the ministry of international trade and industry (MITI) invited private sector proposals for the project. The last day for submissions is today. Its minister, Darell Leiking, talked about the NNCP getting ASEAN participation and not competing with Proton and Perodua last week.
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Perak got more land need develop
great! please do it in perak.
dont do it in melaka please…
Better to make the car in China. Cause work will be far cheaper and quality will be top.
Then re export the cars back to Malaysia and sell it as National Cars.
After all, Geely also the same. China car claiming to be National car.
ProTiga can save billions per year on hardworking, efficient labour.
then, how our economy will develop as we import more cars ? RM rate will going down faster
how about our people wanting to work in those sector ?
lots of work open up for Malaysian to work.
Yes, some parts can be imported from China that are cheaper & good one.
Deswai Protiga is the right choice. As Proton can only sell cars that are China rebadged, i dun see a future for it.
Perlis and Pahang more strategik
SS got much more land to develop. So if they’re really sincere to give equal rights then can place it in one of those states.
ya, but not strategic enough.
Melaka got a YB with vast driving experience , he can be chief test driver
no money to abolish tolls but got money to invest in a bound to fail 3rd national car project.
next GE time to change if the new government transform to a better malaysia.
I support your view,bro
Lolz! No other states wanted it so Melaka took it up!
Melaka > other states
Please stop it even now Vietnam first car is ahead Malaysia that in the market more than 30 years.
I thought the third national car supposed to be an investment by “private” entity and government is not involved in it?
Why the heck does the government get involved in which state where the new national car should be based in?
Let the “private” entity owner decide it!
PH = BN2.0… jokers…
ya, the decision has been made by private and supported by goverment. got it?
if i am the private/investor, i will choose Melaka also, alor gajah is the city of honda, many japanese automotive invested there. infra pun dah ada, buat apa susah-susah nak bangunkan tempat baru, lagi banyak keluar kos.
Great. So its all decided. the news is now released in a scheduled manner. So the people won’t make a fuss when they hear the whole project plan in one go. the next we hear is, who the government considers being partners – and the partner gets announced. subsequently the funding matters … It will be like Khazana will be a shareholder as this project is “by the people, for the people, and to the people ” !!! ~Sigh !!!
Johor Please, we got more professional manpower here. joor got many ports..so its easy to transport finish product to shipyard..gov shld consider tht
Not even half year, this government really show their hidden self – arrogant and stubborn. They still pushing through P3 project albeit protests and negative feedback from the majority of voters. Same to the abolishing of mandatory death sentence… They think they can be in power forever, is it?
Were you born yesterday? This is call #rinduzamantun, for those old enough.
new national car project brand will be gajah logo elephant ok?
ada logo GT Radial
Do it at Sarawak lah. Say want to treat all states equally. Move some industries to EM to get them started. Walk the talk.
Leave that “semi autonomous and affordable” to Proton lar. They have sister company Volvo- master of semi autonomous driving and safety, now. This project is a collosal waste of money, time and energy. Scrap it please.
What I’m seeing is yet another case of a MP trying to push for an automotive hub in his own voting locale to gain popular approval from voters.
This pattern has been repeated many times already, but very few Malaysians and even most media never picked it up.
Since the 1980s, Najib has pushed for the development of the HICOM Pekan plant (Najib is Pekan’s MP). Pekan’s auto industry started out small but today, it’s one of the biggest in the country. Najib helped convince Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen to set up their CKD ops in Pekan.
A decade back, Badawi pushed for a second Naza plant in Bertam, Kepala Batas… and Badawi was Kepala Batas’ MP back then. In the end, Naza never built their Penang plant because they couldn’t sustain their sales boom after the loss of their founder Nasimuddin.
In Sarawak, a similar case happened with the Sarawak Motor Industries plant in Kuching. It was a project of the Sarawak government which aimed to industrialise Sarawak in the 70s and 80s. A few BMWs, Skodas and Toyotas were assembled there, but Sarawak was dominated by recond Japanese cars and most Malaysians who could afford BMWs back then lived in the Peninsular. In the end, the SMI plant was closed down when the mid-80s economic crisis hit.
If you ask me, building a new car manufacturing (not assembly) plant anywhere outside the Klang Valley and Greater Penang is a huge risk. Because most Malaysian vendors and skilled labour are concentrated in these two areas. Selangor is the automotive hub of Malaysia, while Penang is the electronics hub. When you think of cars, you think of Selangor, when you think of electronics, you think of Penang. This has been the case for the past 3 or 4 decades.
The only other logical choice would be southern Johor. Some of the car plants there were quite successful in the past, and Johor has and will continue to benefit from Singapore’s economic spillover. Johor also has the world class Tanjung Pelepas port, it will be an ideal export hub in the future. Johor also has a sizeable electronics hub, and it has a large middle class population.
I would vouch for Johor over Melaka as the best location outside the Klang Valley and Great Penang for a future car plant. Also, no, I don’t live in Johor, if you’re wondering.
Johor only has Oriental Assemblers assembling cars for deadend brand like Chery. Oh but isnt Dyson was supposed to be coming out with EV car as well? And Dyson manufacturing base is in Johor. What happen to that project?
Dyson EV car is not that simple. They always have new mfg method, stringent quality/reliability requirement. Supplier always has to do dedicated process for Dyson production. For a EV car with so much more components… this will be tricky to handle but in the same time, challenging to take on.
If Dyson decided to make them in Malaysia. This will be very interesting for Johorean.
please scrap it
Hahahaha.. If this BS 3rd national car gets the go ahead, I can guarantee PH will be dead during the next election. What a waste of tax payers money.
Bro they said they are not spending a cent but they’re arranging on the project.
The next bail out project. Mark my word.
Those who say scrap it or stop it are very small minded indeed!