Frost and Sullivan principal consultant in Malaysia Animesh Kumar said many OEMs had approached the Malaysia Automotive Institute and the International Trade and Industry Ministry to discuss the incentives further.
He said the three carmakers had moved ahead of other competitors significantly last year.
“Perodua launched a vendor development programme, a new engine and a component assembly plant as well as introduced the first energy-efficient vehicle (EEV) – Perodua Axia.
“Honda has increased its local content to exceed 70% to enable its complete knock down (CKD) models to be sold at very competitive prices. Similarly, Mercedes-Benz began a hybrid CKD operation with the launch of S400 Hybrid with many more in store, taking advantage of the NAP,” he said.
Animesh said Great Wall Motors, one of the new players, became the first OEM to hold an EEV car manufacturing licence.
The research house’s recently unveiled Automotive Outlook 2015 highlighted Perodua’s plan to invest RM260mil for vendor and dealer development, as well as RM790mil for a new plant capable of producing 100,000 cars a year.
It said Perodua, a volume player within the A-segment market, made further forays by launching EEV Axia to replace the Viva model.
For Honda, the RM382 million investment in a new plan in Pegoh, Malacca this year would enable it to double its production capacity from 40,000 to 100,000 units per annum.
Honda locally assembles EEV models, included City, Jazz and Jazz Hybrid.
For Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, the Germans car maker spent RM100 million to upgrade its plant in Pekan, Pahang for the assembly of its hybrid model - the Mercedes-Benz S400L Hybrid.
The locally assembled Mercedes-Benz S400L gets full duty exemption under the NAP, the research firm said.
Meanwhile, it said Tan Chong Motors would localise the production of Nissans hybrid Serena multi-purpose vehicle, while Mazda would make Malaysia its regional hub for CKD production and export base for key models.
