BYD Malaysia has officially confirmed plans to set up a local assembly (CKD) plant located in Tanjong Malim, Perak. Occupying an area of 600,000 square metres, the new facility (100% invested by BYD) is expected to begin vehicle production in the second half of 2026, although the company is not mentioning what model will be the first to roll off the line for now.
UPDATE: KLK Land has issued a press release that revealed BYD Malaysia’s CKD plant will be built at KLK TechPark. Additionally, the Perak state government has also revealed timelines for the plant, and this post has been updated with the new information.
At present, BYD sells six models in Malaysia, all of them fully electric and imported from China. With the ongoing government incentives for EVs, these CBU models are currently exempted from import duty and excise duty, although they won’t be for long as the exemption only lasts until December 31, 2025.
BYD’s CKD plant in Malaysia will be built at KLK Land, a 1,500-acre integrated industrial hub envision as a hub for advanced manufacturing and green technology. BYD is the anchor tenant of the development’s first phase and will take up 150 acres.
Separately, Perak tourism, industry, investment and corridor development committee chairman, Loh Sze Yee, said that land approval had been initiated since last May, with preliminary work starting in July, the Malay Mail reports. He added that construction of the factory is expected to commence at the end of August, with the launch ceremony to be officiated by menteri besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad on September 4.
With a local CKD plant, BYD will be able to benefit from incentives applied to CKD EVs, which are exempt from excise duty and sales tax until December 31, 2027. This also opens up the possibility of plug-in hybrid (PHEV) models being introduced here, which could get incentives under the proposed New Customised Incentive Mechanism (NCM).
“Malaysia has always been one of BYD’s most important markets in Southeast Asia, and today’s dual announcement of CKD and the new BYD Seal marks a new chapter in our journey here. With the strong support of Sime Motors, we are confident in deepening our roots in Malaysia and bringing world-class EV technology closer to local customers,” said Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD Asia Pacific auto sales division.
“This commitment is not only about delivering innovative products, but also about investing in the future of Malaysia’s EV ecosystem – from local assembly, to talent development, and electric mobility. Together, we look forward to accelerating Malaysia’s transition towards a greener and smarter transportation future, with BYD standing as a long-term partner to the nation,” he added.
“Today’s launch builds on the success of the BYD Seal, which was Malaysia’s best-selling electric sedan in 2024. With the updated model, we are confident it will continue to attract a wide range of Malaysian customers with its enhanced features. Together with the CKD production plan, this further reinforces our position as the number one BEV brand in Malaysia,” commented Jeffrey Gan, Sime Motors managing director for Southeast Asia.
With this announcement, BYD is poised to join a number of brands that assemble EVs in Malaysia, including Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Chery. Meanwhile, other brands that have expressed or are currently in the midst of carrying out plans to locally assemble EVs here include Proton, Leapmotor, TQ Wuling and Volkswagen.
Despite Tanjong Malim being synonymous with Proton – the Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) lists the local carmaker as the only one with a base in the town currently – the new BYD CKD plant will be built on a separate piece of land, unrelated to DRB-Hicom’s Automotive Hi-Tech Valley (AHTV) project.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
curious on who will they employ to set up the plant in less than 2 short years (EV CKD tax holiday will end Dec 2027)?
will they bring in external workers with external equipment from external suppliers? what are the benefits in having them if jobs and businesses are not created for the locals?
Are you blind or deaf to look at Chery plant first before asking dumb question?
Only those Chinese car companies which are willing to CKD in Malaysia are in for the long term. When the import and exist duty exemption ends on Dec 31 2025, prices for CBU EVs will double overnight and their market will evaporate like mist in the morning. I see this happening to Zeekr and Xpeng. Their sales are too low to CKD and will soon be too high to sell so there’s nothing they can do but ‘balik China.’ The only CBU EV which can survive (barely) is Tesla which will be a seller of “luxury” EVs costing upwards of RM400,000 to Tesla fanboys.
400k I rather buy BMW 5 series liao..Tesla max only worth 200k. Tesla is not a luxury car. It might be the pioneer but those are history now. Initial pre empt surprise has gone now almost every brand can build EV. 400k will shift ppl to BMW Merc. Most ppl know EV owner are not rich. Those are ppl who cant really afford BMW or Merc and finally can pay half or below half the price to mimic the Germans.
it is obvious you did not hold conversation with them fanboy and owners, they are extremely proud and borderline cocky with their tesla and belittle every other chinese cars when presented the opportunity.
Really meh? Not so as you didn’t explore on what’s going on outside when driving or even riding
tesla isnt 400k its around 200-250k so why are you comparing a 400k bmw to a 250k tesla
ckd thumbs down
Thailand oredi find out the loophole
What about plan to install more charger? Sell so many but how many charger they installed?
Only in big cities and highway. If you go to rural area for vacation, you might need to buy your own generator and petrol
CKD means just fitting the bumpers and car seats. Loops hole to get tax free….