Tiang on proposed new national car

suppadmin | June 11, 2018

Sarawak United Peoples’ party (SUPP) Youth Central Chief, Michael Tiang said there should not be another new national car which was proposed by Tun Dr Mahathir during his working visit in Japan.

Tiang said for years, it has been one of the top wishes of Malaysians who have been asking the federal government to have car prices lowered and now there is another national car in the making.

“We learned from the past experience, the protective measures put in place for national cars by the government has in fact caused consumers to pay higher price for cars. The privileges and incentives enjoyed by national cars did not translate into a more competitive and healthier market to both consumers and other carmakers.

Although this time Pakatan Harapan did not promise to reduce car prices in its Buku Harapan, GE14 Manifesto like Pakatan Rakyat did for GE13, PH government needs to heed that high car prices remain heavy financial burdens to Malaysians. Due to poor public transportation systems in majority places in Malaysia, owning a car to commute is a fundamental need, not an option to many,” he said.

Tiang added that instead of seeking to launch another national car project, the PH government should find new measures to bring car prices down by way of gradual liberalisation and tax incentives to carmakers so that Malaysian consumers can afford lower priced cars with better specifications.