BYD VP visits Inokom plant in Kulim – EV giant mulling CKD contract assembly partnership with Sime?

As you know, BYD VP and GM of the carmaker’s Asia Pacific Auto Sales Division Liu Xueliang was in town recently to attend the launch of BYD Mansion Macalister in Penang, where he reiterated BYD’s commitment to Malaysia despite new government policies on EVs.

While he was here, he also visited Sime Motors’ Inokom plant in Kulim, Kedah, leading us to wonder if plans are afoot for Sime Motors to be BYD’s local contract-assembly partner, which would be in line with MITI’s new rules.

To recap, MITI’s new fully-imported (CBU) EV regulations mean that BYD’s current all-CBU line-up will either be outlawed because they don’t make at least 180 kW (245 PS), or become expensive (Seal and Sealion 7) because the cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value needs to be RM200k or more.

BYD VP visits Inokom plant in Kulim – EV giant mulling CKD contract assembly partnership with Sime?

The way around this is local assembly (CKD), but because BYD was looking at setting up its own new factory, new regulations mandate a RM100k floor price, 80% of production to be exported and a paint shop, which is a costly element in a car factory and a sign of ‘serious work’ being done there, so to say.

So how now brown cow? Deputy MITI minister Sim Tze Tzin revealed a ‘solution’ recently to The Edge: “If (carmakers) want to price EVs between RM100,000 and RM200,000, they can work together with contract manufacturers to manufacture here” – as MG, Xpeng and GWM are doing with EPMB in Melaka, and TQ Wuling with Tan Chong.

So, is this a sign that BYD will partner up with Inokom and Sime Motors to locally assemble its cars in Malaysia, and that we will be able to buy CKD EV and potentially PHEV models from the global NEV leader sooner rather than later?

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