Malaysia auto player Naza said yesterday it planned to tie up with US giant General Motors (GM) to assemble Chevrolet cars in Malaysia, and could export the vehicles to other Southeast Asian markets.
“I am optimistic we will be able to set up an assembly plant. GM is keen. We want the investment to come to Malaysia,” said Faisal Nasimuddin, the Naza group’s chief executive officer.
“The assembly of Chevrolet vehicles could be at the Naza Group assembly plant in Gurun, Kedah,” he told reporters, referring to the northern state on the Thai border.
In March Naza signed a distributorship agreement with GM. All the models it distributes — Optra, Aveo, Captiva and Cruze — are currently imported from Thailand.
Faisal said Naza hopes to boost Chevrolet sales to between 35,000 and 40,000 cars by 2015 before establishing an assembly facility in Malaysia, Southeast Asia’s biggest passenger car market.
“GM sees Malaysia as a very strategic market,” he said, adding that the US auto player wants to turn Malaysia “into a regional hub” for the export of certain models.
“We have to set up a facility. We are exploring how we can become an ASEAN hub [for GM],” Faisal said. He did not give a timeline for establishing the assembly operations.
Faisal also said Malaysia should provide tax incentives to woo foreign auto players in a bid to become a Southeast Asian hub, a status already claimed by Thailand.
He said the Malaysian passenger car market was becoming saturated, and that for growth prospects, industry players had to look toward the region.
Ahmad Maghfur Usman, an analyst with OSK Research, said it would cost about 20 million ringgit (US$6.3 million) to set up an assembly line for a single model.
“I think the target of 40,000 units is a bit ambitious. Malaysian buyers still prefer Japanese makes due to their fuel efficiency, quality and better resale value,” he said.
The Chien Feng IV (勁蜂, Mighty Hornet) loitering munition is on track to enter flight tests next month in connection with potential adoption by Taiwanese and US armed forces, a government source said yesterday. The kamikaze drone, which boasts a range of 1,000km, debuted at the Taipei Aerospace and Defense Technology Exhibition in September, the official said on condition of anonymity. The Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology and US-based Kratos Defense jointly developed the platform by leveraging the engine and airframe of the latter’s MQM-178 Firejet target drone, they said. The uncrewed aerial vehicle is designed to utilize an artificial intelligence computer
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday decided to shelve proposed legislation that would give elected officials full control over their stipends, saying it would wait for a consensus to be reached before acting. KMT Legislator Chen Yu-jen (陳玉珍) last week proposed amendments to the Organic Act of the Legislative Yuan (立法院組織法) and the Regulations on Allowances for Elected Representatives and Subsidies for Village Chiefs (地方民意代表費用支給及村里長事務補助費補助條例), which would give legislators and councilors the freedom to use their allowances without providing invoices for reimbursement. The proposal immediately drew criticism, amid reports that several legislators face possible charges of embezzling fees intended to pay
REQUIREMENTS: The US defense secretary must submit a Taiwan security assistance road map and an appraisal of Washington’s ability to respond to Indo-Pacific conflict The US Congress has released a new draft of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which includes up to US$1 billion in funding for Taiwan-related security cooperation next year. The version published on Sunday by US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson removed earlier language that would have invited Taiwan to participate in the US-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC). A statement on Johnson’s Web page said the NDAA “enhances U.S. defense initiatives in the Indo-Pacific to bolster Taiwan’s defense and support Indo-Pacific allies.” The bill would require the US secretary of defense to “enable fielding of uncrewed and anti-uncrewed systems capabilities”
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
RSS