Ora Good Cat EV, Haval SUVs, Cannon pick-up to be assembled in Melaka – EPMB, GWM sign CKD MoU

EP Manufacturing Berhad (EPMB), via its subsidiary PEPS-JV (Melaka), has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Great Wall Motor Sales Malaysia to set up a local assembly and manufacturing programme in Malaysia. The collaboration is set to be agreed definitively in the next three months, and is projected to commence in 2024.

UPDATE: EPMB has held a ground-breaking ceremony for its vehicle manufacturing facility in Hicom Pegoh Industrial Park, Melaka, and has also outlined plans to manufacture a couple of vehicle models from BAIC, the BJ40 Plus and X55II SUVs, as well as a number of GWM vehicle models.

With this partnership, selected GWM models will be locally-assembled at EPMB’s plant in Pegoh, Alor Gajah in Melaka. The official press release mentions the inclusion of “prominent models such as GWM SUV, pick-up and cutting-edge electric vehicles” in the CKD plans, which should be referring to the Haval H6 and Jolion, Cannon and Ora Good Cat (perhaps the smaller Black Cat or bigger Grand Cat too?) respectively.

Once agreed, production of CKD GWM vehicles in Malaysia is expected to ramp up gradually, with a target of assembling up to 20,000 units by 2028. No mention of exports here, as GWM already has a right-hand drive/ASEAN production base in Thailand, having taken over GM’s Rayong plant in 2020.

The GWM Cannon pick-up truck currently retails in Malaysia for RM128k in CBU form, while the electric Ora Good Cat is priced between RM140k and RM170k. Both the Haval H6 and Jolion SUVs have yet to be launched here, despite multiple previews and local appearances.

Curiously, this is far from being EPMB’s first MoU to assemble cars in Malaysia. So far, the public-listed company has signed letters of intent with BAIC (to CKD X55II and BJ40 Plus SUVs), Lingbox (to assemble and distribute the mini EV in Malaysia and Indonesia) and the Saean Group (to develop, manufacture an affordable A-segment EV for Malaysia). None have come to fruition as of yet.

The group announced in July that it had secured conditional approval for a manufacturing license from the ministry of investment, trade and industry (MITI) to manufacture and assemble four-wheel energy-efficient vehicles (EEVs) and EVs. EPMB is a Malaysian-based investment holding company operating in the automotive business segment. Its various businesses are primarily involved in the manufacturing of automotive components and parts.

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Learn more: Ora Good Cat 2022