CYBERJAYA: DreamEdge Sdn Bhd has been appointed to drive the third national car project, said International Trade and Industry Minister Darell Leiking.
While Japan's Daihatsu Motor will provide technology support, it will not have a stake in the business.
Leiking said the Government would consider offering tax incentives for the business, which would be wholly privately funded.
The ministry said in a statement that the new car would be fully designed and developed by Malaysian engineers, focusing on new upper body; interior and human-machine interface systems; ride & handling; as well as minimising noise, vibration & harshness.
DreamEdge founder and CEO Khairil Adri Adnan said the first model would be a C-segment sedan using hybrid technology. Examples of C-segment cars are Kia Cerato, Mazda3 and Honda Civic.
He said DreamEdge was looking for more money to fund the project and said it had already secured "a few hundred millions of (ringgit)" to date.
A prototype would be revealed in March 2020, and the car is aimed for market launch in March 2021. The new model has yet to be named.
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Headquartered in Cyberjaya, DreamEdge is an engineering services company catering to various industries such as automotive, rail, electronics, energy, defence, precision equipment and tooling design.
According to the company's website, DreamEdge started in 2007 with three engineers in a shop office, before growing to today's workforce of over 100 engineers and operations at its research and development Digital Design Centre at iTech Tower, Cyberjaya.
DreamEdge also has a Additive Manufacturing and Prototyping Centre at AutoVille Cyberjaya, an Innovation and Technology Centre located within Sirim, Bukit Jalil, a Digital Engineering Design Centre in Taiping, Perak as well as an research and development office at Shibuya, Tokyo and facilities in Istanbul.
The company's website also proudly notes that it is a product of the country's Look East policy, and inculcates the Japanese working culture in its employees.
DreamEdge said it has secured contracts for design as well research and development works from clients in Japan, Britain, Austria, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates.
"These contracts can be in the form of projects that can vary from a few thousand ringgit for small scale engineering deliverables to millions of ringgit for turnkey projects e.g. new vehicle development, which involves design, prototype development and developing systems for mass production," the website said.
DreamEdge's Khairil graduated in Bachelor of Science Electronics and Engineering from Polytechnic University Japan.
His biography on DreamEdge's website states he had a 10-year stint with Digital Process Limited, Japan (Dipro) which is a leading global provider of CAD/CAM/CAE and BOM/PDM solution and services in engineering and manufacturing.
He also won a Young Inventor award from Switzerland for Best Malaysian Invention, when he was 16 years old after being inspired by the American 80’s television series Knight Rider and building a car that could be controlled remotely.
