While many are welcoming the government’s EV incentives with open arms, the end-2023 expiry date for tax exemptions on imported electric vehicles does pose a slight concern to several car brands here in Malaysia – especially those without a local production facility.
That’s not necessarily the case, however, for Mercedes-Benz Malaysia, as the company has just confirmed that it will indeed be carrying out local assembly works for the Mercedes-EQ fully-electric models, as a commitment to the company’s electrification push.
The news was announced by MBM President and CEO Sagree Sardien, during an interview session at the launch of the fully-electric EQA crossover. “We are committed, definitely, to producing EV models in the country,” said Sardien.
As usual, there’s no indication on which models will be locally assembled here in Malaysia just yet, but Sardien did confirm that the EQA will continue in CBU form for now.
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“We have not made the final decision on which EQ models or EV models we will produce locally, [but] later on this year you will hear a lot more about it.”
“All I can confirm right now is that we definitely have the intention, and are looking at it very deeply and estimating the feasibility around it – and wherever possible, we will try to look at a CKD variant,” she added.
Despite Sardien’s comments, AutoBuzz.my understands that the company will begin its EV local assembly operations with the Mercedes-Benz EQS, with preparation works already being carried out at its assembly plant in Pekan, Pahang, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The Mercedes-Benz EQS is the marque’s flagship model under the Mercedes-EQ sub-brand. Introduced globally back in April last year, the range-topping EQS 580 4Matic model gets two electric motors to make a combined output of 523 hp and 855 Nm of torque. In performance terms, the output equates to a century sprint time of just 4.8 seconds, onward to a top speed of 210 km/h.
But most impressively, the fully-electric sedan boasts a mind-boggling range of 770 km from a single charge, thanks to the massive 107.8 kWh battery pack, and an incredible drag coefficient of just 0.2 Cd!
Read more about the Mercedes-Benz EQS here!
It’s safe to say that Mercedes-Benz Malaysia’s “electric onslaught” has well and truly started, and there’s certainly a lot for us to look forward to in the coming months. Keep your eyes peeled as we bring you the latest news!
