Does vehicle rebadging affect local engineers and suppliers?

The Gerakan Ekonomi Malaysia (GEM) president has voiced out his concerns regarding the current state of the national automotive policy or agenda.

GEM President, Armin Baniaz Pahamin, is pushing towards the restructuring of the national car agenda as is it currently limiting opportunities and growth for the country's local talents in the particular segment.

According to a recent post by NST, Armin mentioned that the new automotive policy is not impacting the economic holistically, particularly when it comes to national car brands as it is now leaning more on vehicle rebadging instead of local research and development.

Armin stated "The economy is affected by the new automotive policy which is not holistic, mainly on the aspects of national cars. Groups that are most affected by this include engineers and suppliers as the number of engineers needed would lessen when most of the research and development (R&D) of a vehicle is done in other countries by external engineers."

Armin also highlighted that Malaysian-made cars like the Proton Saga, Persona, Exora, and Iriz carry the biggest economic contribution with around 80% of sales for Proton Holdings Bhd.

He also added that the latest models like the X50, X70, and X90 will impact the demand for local experts from engineers to suppliers as they bypass local R&D. Proton's shareholder, DRB-HICOM, has been urged by GEM to prioritise national car developments instead of relying on the 'rebadging' practice.