Sime Darby Bhd To Bring In BYD Electric Cars Into Malaysia

BYD the EV giant set to take Tesla head on.

SIME Darby Motors Sdn Bhd, the automotive arm of Sime Darby Bhd, would be bringing in 2,000 units of BYD Co’s electric cars into Malaysia by the end of this year, and another 10,000 units next year, reported The Edge recently.

Currently SIME Darby Motors thru brands under its umbrella is responsible for distributing models such as Hyundai Ioniq 5, Hyundai Kona EV, Porsche Taycan and Volvo XC40. This offering is set to increase further as EV adoption is growing rapidly with demand out shining supply at the moment.

Hence, having BYD’s offering in Malaysia would be highly beneficial to meet demands especially at the lower price point range. SIME Darby confirmed with The Edge that at the moment talks are still ongoing and announcements will be made should any development unfold.

SIME Darby is currently the distributor for BYD in Singapore which according to BestSellingCarsBlog saw a steep rise of +833% sales despite the overall industry slump of -21% in June 2022.

BYD cars sold in the island nation are currently manufactured in China, however BYD has recently made an announcement that it will be teaming up with WHA Group to set up its first passenger vehicle manufacturing facility outside of China. It is also mentioned that the operation will begin in 2024 with expected production of 150,000 vehicles. Would this mean all future right-hand drive models will originate from this facility?

All we can say is hopefully with BYD entering the local EV market, lower priced EVs can be made available for public consumption. SIME Darby’s MD, Andrew Basham announced in August that EV sales for the company translates to 4.5% of its revenue with the bulk coming from China while Malaysia contributed 17.1%. 

SIME Darby’s MD, Andrew Basham

(Source: The Edge)