Chery Malaysia commits to invest RM1 billion

Chery has committed to investing over RM1 billion in Malaysia, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz revealed in a post on his official Facebook page after meeting with Chery chairman Yin Tong Yue at the MITI head office yesterday.

The MITI minister also said ever since Chery Automobile entered the country last year with the formation of Chery Corporate Malaysia (CCM), over 600 jobs have been created locally. He added that Chery is also supportive of the country’s New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030) that promotes locally-assembled (CKD) electric vehicles (EVs).

For now, Chery doesn’t officially sell an EV in Malaysia, although it will soon introduce the Omoda E5, which will be a fully-imported (CBU) offering. Given Zafrul’s statement, could the Omoda E5 eventually become a CKD model here, like it will be in Indonesia? We’ll have to wait and see.

On the mention of the EV, yesterday’s event also saw Yin hand over an Omoda E5 to Zafrul. “Malaysia is a crucial part of Chery’s global strategy. The CKD factory invested by the group will not only cover the local Malaysian market but will also radiate throughout the entire Southeast Asian region, becoming a stronghold for new forces to enter Southeast Asia in the future,” said Yin.