KUALA LUMPUR: There are no plans to increase prices for Mazda cars despite the weakened ringgit, according to Bermaz Motor Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Seri Ben Yeoh.
"We will continue to absorb the higher costs until the ringgit weakens to the point where we can no longer do so," Yeoh told the media at a Institute of Motor Industry (IMI) conference in Hilton Kuala Lumpur.
Bermaz Motor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berjaya Auto Bhd, is the distributor of Mazda vehicles in Malaysia.
"Yes, we deal in yen for Mazda cars. We have been fortunate that the yen - ringgit exchange rates have been less volatile, compared with the US dollar."
Yeoh also pointed out that the majority of Mazda cars sold in Malaysia are locally assembled.
"We are also looking at increasing local content for Mazda cars, to reduce costs (due to the impact of the weakened ringgit)," said Yeoh.
Meanwhile, more efforts are needed to train after-sales staff dealing with energy-efficient vehicles (EEV), in view of the rising demand for such cars according to UK-based Institute of Motor Industry (IMI).
"Malaysia definitely has a strong potential to become the main regional training hub for electric vehicles as we see it as being ahead of others in the region in the area of electric vehicle adoption,” said IMI chief executive officer Steve Nash at a recent automotive conference at Hilton Kuala Lumpur.
Since early last year, the IMI has been working closely with the Malaysian government to provide training support across a network of community colleges, with emphasis on electric and hybrid vehicles, in line with the country’s aim to be a regional EEV hub.
The professional body for the automotive sector is also looking for a partner in Malaysia to develop the international version of one of its latest qualifications, the L4 Award in the Diagnosis, Testing and Repair of Electric/Hybrid Vehicles and Components (QCF) that enables technicians to safely carry out repairs on live electric or hybrid vehicles.
Currently there are 264 EEV trained technicians in Malaysia.
The Kepala Batas Community College’s Technology Centre for hybrid and electric vehicles and Pekan Community College are among the IMI Approved Centres which are training technicians with EEV skills.
In Malaysia, the IMI has 24 Approved Centres comprising of community colleges, automotive companies like Nasim Sdn Bhd, Bermaz Motor and educational bodies such as the Otomotif College.
