Author: Jonathan James Tan

After signing a letter of intent (LOI) in November, Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd (PSSB) and Tan Chong Motor Assemblies Sdn Bhd (TCMA) have signed a three-year agreement for the latter to offer electro-deposition coating and painting line services, in addition to rental and use of certain designated assembly lines in Serendah, for the Perodua QV-E, The Star reports, citing a Bursa Malaysia filing. “TCMA shall provide electro-deposition coating and painting line services in addition to rental of designated assembly line in consideration of the payments of service fees and rental charges to be made by PSSB,” the filing said. The…

Honda has instructed its suppliers to scale back their prices significantly because the carmaker goals to chop over 1.5 trillion yen (RM38.6 billion) in costs by 2030, Reuters has reported in an exclusive, citing sighted internal documents and two people acquainted with the matter. The news agency writes that in spring this 12 months, Honda managers told major suppliers at a convention centre in Utsunomiya (a city near the carmaker’s R&D facility) that the corporate was sourcing more components from Chinese suppliers, and urged them to do the identical where possible. Each supplier was reportedly later presented with company-specific cost-cutting…

Malaysian investment, trade and industry minister (MITI) Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani has said today in parliament that the ministry has not been formally notified yet if BYD will proceed with its Tanjong Malim plant plans, Bernama reports. Senator Tan Sri Low Kian Chuan was searching for an update on BYD’s proposed plant as an EV maker that has met the localisation requirements to qualify for preferential tax treatment under the completely-knocked-down (CKD) scheme. “Any decision to proceed with, defer or revise its investment plans is a business decision for the corporate,” Johari replied, adding that the federal government is…

4 recent Ford Ranger variants have been launched in Malaysia – the Platinum 3.0 (RM205,888), Sport 3.0 (RM159,888), Sport 2.0 (RM145,888) and XL 2.0 (RM127,888) – all turbodiesels. Well, technically, the XL is a re-launch – the bottom workhorse variant has been present because the current-gen Ranger first launched in Malaysia in 2022. With over a dozen Ranger variants in Malaysia, Raptor included, where do these recent guys fit? The Platinum 3.0 is now the priciest non-Raptor Ranger. The Sport 3.0 and a pair of.0 sit above XLT Plus but below WildTrak, and the XL is now RM8k dearer than…

Malaysian deputy investment, trade and industry (MITI) minister Sim Tze Tzin today said within the Dewan Rakyat that the federal government is refining its policies and incentives to speed up EV ecosystem development, including expanding charging facilities nationwide, Bernama reports. “The development of charging facilities requires substations to make sure adequate power supply,” he said, adding that the federal government is working with several stakeholders including Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) to construct more power substations, and is holding discussions to supply incentives to charging facility operators (CPO) to be able to promote the development of more chargers. “If there are…

Ladies and gentlemen, the eighth-gen 2027 Hyundai Elantra, or the Avante in its home market. It’s just been unveiled on the 2026 Busan Mobility Show, so let’s unpack this baby. The brand new Elantra not only looks galaxies other than the seventh-gen automotive that first got here out in early-2020 (and launched in Malaysia that December) but looks like nothing else on 4 wheels we’ve ever seen. Sharp, angular bumpers, thin LED strips for lights, super-prominent front and rear haunches, folded paper-like doors that accommodate said haunches (take a look at how skewed the rear door handles should be consequently!)…

Malaysia’s transport ministry, in collaboration with the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) and Cyberview subsidiary Futurise, is inviting public feedback on the event of the country’s autonomous vehicle roadmap. In an announcement, MIROS said the initiative “forms a part of the federal government’s ongoing efforts to determine a strategic, phased and safety-driven direction for the protected development and deployment of autonomous vehicle technology in Malaysia.” “The proposed roadmap is predicted to function a very important reference in shaping national approaches to policy, laws, safety requirements, infrastructure readiness, testing mechanisms, public acceptance and the general autonomous vehicle industry ecosystem,”…

The weekend is here, and just in case you’re relaxing in a supine position wondering concerning the Jaecoo J5 and its attractive RM108k price tag, we’ve got you covered in our latest video review. This B-segment SUV takes greater than just a few cues from a certain Solihull-based 4×4 brand – whether that’s bad or good relies on the way you see it. Under the bonnet is the Chery Tiggo Cross Turbo‘s blown 1.5 litre four-cylinder engine (147 PS and 210 Nm of torque), but here you get a CVT as a substitute of the Chery’s DCT. 0-100 km/h is…

Ni hao from Auto China 2026 in Beijing! Geely has just unveiled its Eva Cab, a robotaxi prototype that the corporate says is China’s first purpose-built one. Unlike others converted from existing production cars, this was specifically engineered from the bottom up for driverless business operation. The Eva Cab is actually one for the techies, since it features full-domain AI that powers Geely’s G-ASD 4.0 intelligent driving platform (co-developed with tech partner Afari), which in turn enables Level 4 autonomy. Pilot robotaxi operations have already been conducted for over a yr in cities like Hangzhou and Suzhou, in collaboration with…

Transport minister Anthony Loke has said in his speech on the transport ministry’s monthly assembly that the ministry expects more Malaysians to shift to public transport and EVs amidst the continued global fuel crisis, despite the federal government desiring to keep (no less than for now) the value of subsidised RON 95 petrol (Budi95) at RM1.99 a litre. Being the populist weapon that it’s (particularly in Malaysia), fuel is at all times a touchy and tricky subject. The primary (and really valid) query is, “why would I shift to public transport and/or EVs when petrol continues to be RM1.99 a…