Of Automotives and The Recently Announced Budget

Hybrid cars are becoming very attractive propositions thanks to the Government’s decision to fully waive excise and import duty, as announced in the 2011 Budget. UMW Toyota has already slashed the Toyota Prius’ price tag to RM139,900 from the previous RM175,000, and it’s Honda’s turn to reveal the new price of its Civic Hybrid. The green Civic is now priced at RM108,980 OTR with insurance, which is RM21,000 cheaper than before.

This means that the imported from Japan Civic Hybrid will be the most affordable Civic variant in Malaysia, undercutting the RM114,980 1.8S model, which is locally assembled by the way. The new price for East Malaysia is RM1,000 more than on the Peninsular, while Langkawi and Labuan buyers can have the car at RM100,980. It’s still cheaper in those duty free islands as they are exempted from a 10% sales tax.

“As the pioneer in introducing the hybrid technology to the Malaysian market, we are pleased with the government’s decision to allow full exemption of import duty and excise duty as announced in the recent Budget 2011. The move will make hybrid vehicles more accessible for environmentally conscious Malaysians. These exemptions are certainly timely as Honda is looking into expanding its hybrid vehicle line-up in Malaysia,” said Honda Malaysia President and COO, Rohime Shafie.

There you have it! Should be the Honda Insight, or perhaps even the CR-Z at a later date!
213 Comments



New Toyota Prius lowered price – RM139,900
October 28, 2010 at 11:07 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids, Electric vehicles, fuel cells, alternative fuel, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011, Toyota


The Toyota Prius will be priced at RM139,900 in the Peninsular Malaysia and RM141,500 in Sabah and Sarawak effective today. This is a drop of about RM35,000 in Peninsular Malaysia from the previous price of RM175,000.

That’s how much that remaining half-price excise duty means – RM35,000. Our prices are still higher than Langkawi’s prices as we still have 10% sales tax despite import duties and excise duties being 0% now. Just to recap – when the Budget 2011 was announced, the Malaysian government lowered the duties for hybrid vehicles below 2,000cc of displacement to 0% for both excise and import duty. Previously, the government gave 100% exemption of import duty but only 50% exemption for excise duty.

It looks like our estimation of the new Toyota Prius pricing after the complete removal of excise duties by the government was pretty much spot on after all. We estimated a price of around RM140,149.30 with a tax savings of about RM34,850.70. We calculated that based on the Langkawi price of RM127,408.45 and adding 10% sales tax. So we can assume that UMW Toyota is transferring 100% of the benefits of the tax break to the consumers.



Next up would be the Honda Civic Hybrid – an announcement from Honda Malaysia should be coming soon before the end of the year. Our pricing estimation for the Honda Civic Hybrid was RM111,078, a drop of about RM18,902 from the current price of RM129,980.

At the new price of RM139,900, the Toyota Prius really starts becoming very tempting. The new price is also below RM150k so it becomes more favorable in terms of claiming capital allowances – that should start driving up sales for the Prius as a company car as well.

We tried the Prius (watch our real life road test review on Driven or our Japanese closed track test drive on this blog) and found that it could give significantly lower fuel consumption without the driver consciously trying hard to save fuel – that’s what a good hybrid should be doing, not forcing you to mind your throttle to the point that it becomes distracting and unenjoyable.
152 Comments
Berjaya Corp granted local assembly manufacturing licence
October 22, 2010 at 1:55 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under BYD, Cars, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011


Well, another player has joined the list of local assemblers. Berjaya Corporation has been granted a manufacturing licence to build vehicles in the country by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and with that is set to assemble commercial vehicles, hybrid cars, electric cars and luxury passenger vehicles at a 100-acre plant in Bukit Tagar, Selangor.

Tan Sri Vincent Tan, Berjaya Corp’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement that the license would allow Berjaya more flexibility and control in terms of quality and pricing of its vehicles. The group currently holds the distribution and marketing rights to a number of brands locally, including Mazda, Chana Era, Skoda and Jinbei.

“Besides strategically complementing and widening our existing range of motor brands, this will also be a good opportunity for Berjaya Corp to promote green technology through the development of hybrid and electric vehicles which are more environmentally friendly. In line with this, we hope to expand our market share and develop a more global presence,” he said.



The direction towards hybrid (and EV) assembly looks timely for Berjaya, given the recent full excise duty exemptions on hybrid cars below 2.0 litres until Dec 31 next year. The exemption under the budget, along with the manufacturing licence approved by MITI, effectively means that Berjaya Corp will be able to circumvent the revised National Automotive Policy’s clause of only issuing manufacturing licences for vehicles above a 1.8 litre engine displacement and RM150,000 pricing, which had earlier played havoc on its plans for local assembly.

Earlier in the year, Berjaya Corp had signed a MOU with Chinese automaker BYD Auto to locally assemble the latter’s 1.0 litre F0 four-door hatch, but the NAP directive kept that from developing. Now, with the manufacturing licence approval, the project should in all probability get underway, and the assumption is that BYD models such as e6 and F3DM should figure in plans at some point in the future.
63 Comments
Toyota to assemble Prius in Thailand for Asian markets
October 19, 2010 at 1:06 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids, Electric vehicles, fuel cells, alternative fuel, International News, Malaysia Budget 2011, Toyota


The recent hybrid-related announcement in Budget 2011 may have been cheery news for potential hybrid adopters, but here’s where it gets even better, especially for those looking closely at the Toyota Prius.

Toyota Motor Thailand is to begin production of the third-generation Prius hybrid, with the vehicle set for its soft launch on October 21 and its Thai market debut next month. The batteries and engine will be shipped in from Japan for Thai production.

Following the Camry hybrid, the ZVW30 will be TMT’s second locally-assembled hybrid. Thailand is the third country to build the Prius after Japan and China, and the vehicle will be exported to other Asian markets to meet rising demands – the assumption is of course that when Thai exports begin, Malaysia will be taking the Prius from here instead of from Japan.

Potentially, dependent on the Thai-made vehicle’s pricing, this would mean an even cheaper Prius in Malaysia. UMW Toyota is currently in the midst of carrying out a revision on the price of the Prius following the full exemption of the import/excise duty for hybrids. How much the Thai-made vehicle will figure towards the final revised price remains to be seen – we’ll just have to wait and see what the final numbers are.
174 Comments
Budget 2011: BMW hopes clean diesel will not be forgotten
October 15, 2010 at 8:02 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under BMW, Cars, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011
While the hot news was on hybrids and the only significant topic on the diesel front in Budget 2011 was on the implementation of the B5 programme (Blending of Biofuels with Petroleum Diesel) on a mandatory basis in some states by June of next year, there remains the hope that the Government will continue to look at improving the quality of petroleum diesel as another step in lowering carbon emissions.

BMW Group Malaysia is of the belief that such an approach is not only a viable alternative but a very sound one at that, with the following commentary on Budget 2011, which you will find after the jump. I think the key is here the comparison between the 320i and the 320d. Makes lots of sense really, when compared to what the United Nations defines the hybrid standard as.
[Read more...]
51 Comments
Honda Malaysia to review Honda Civic Hybrid pricetag
October 15, 2010 at 7:19 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, Hybrids, Electric vehicles, fuel cells, alternative fuel, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011


Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd has just issued a statement – they are quite pleased with the government’s decision to extend import duty and excise duty exemption for hybrid vehicles until 31st December 2011 with excise duty to be given full exemption. An internal review will be done and a new revised price structure for the Honda Civic Hybrid will be announced when the internal review has been completed.

Interestingly, Honda Malaysia also said that it is also looking to extending its hybrid vehicle line-up. Other than the Civic Hybrid, Honda also has the Honda Insight, Honda CR-Z, and the Honda Jazz Hybrid in its stables. Which would you rather see launched in Malaysia?
[Read more...]
91 Comments
Budget 2011: other motoring and transport related news
October 15, 2010 at 6:58 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011


Besides the news of the removal of the 50% excise duty of hybrid vehicles in Paul’s earlier story, there were some other items related to motoring and transport in Budget 2011.

Effective January 1 next year, the service tax on all taxable services will go up from 5% to 6%, which of course means that it’ll add to the cost of servicing and repairing your vehicle, among everything else that you can be expected to pay a service tax for.

Better news for frequent users of the four highways run by PLUS Expressways Berhad – as a means of alleviating your burden, the toll won’t be raised for the next five years.

As part of its plan to reduce the intensity of carbon emissions, the Government will also begin the implementation of its B5 programme – the blending of biofuel in diesel – on a mandatory basis in Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negeri Sembilian and Melaka starting from June 2011.

Elsewhere, some good news for the physically disabled who are able to drive – the current exemption of excise duty by 50% on the purchase of a national vehicle is now 100%, with all existing conditions for such a purchase remaining unchanged. The revised exemption, effective from October 18, is also extended to those with hearing and speaking disabilities.

In terms of public transport, work on the Mass Rapid Transit rail system in the Klang Valley is slated to begin in 2011. The project, which is estimated to cost RM40 billion, is aimed at providing an efficient transport system that will reduce travelling time and offer better connectivity in the Klang Valley.

The project will be integrated to other modes of transportation, including buses and taxis (it’ll be interesting to see how this one works – a definite overhaul is needed, for sure), and is expected to be completed by 2020. Upon its completion, the Government expects that the utilisation rate of public transport to increase by at least 40%.

Meanwhile, rural roads get that much needed improvement – Sabah and Sarawak is to get an allocation of RM2.1 billion for the building and upgrading of rural roads, while RM696 million will be set aside for those in the Peninsular.
97 Comments
Hybrid car tax exemption to be extended to end of 2011
October 15, 2010 at 4:41 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids, Electric vehicles, fuel cells, alternative fuel, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011
In today’s Budget 2011 announcement, the PM has announced that import duty and excise duty is now FULLY exempted for hybrid and electric cars and motorcycles until the end of the year 2011.

■The duty exemption has been extended until the 31st of December 2011, it was supposed to expire by the end of this year.
■The duties for hybrid cars are even lower now. Previously the government offered 100% import duty exemption and 50% excise duty exemption, now it’s 100% exemption for both import duty and excise duty! This should mean the price of the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid should be even lower now.
■Exemptions have now been extended to electric cars, hybrid motorcycles as well as electric motorcycles.
■The rest of the details are status quo, for example the exemptions still only apply to internal combustion engines with capacities of lower than 2.0 liters, so there’s still no way for the Toyota Camry Hybrid to be brought in with these tax benefits.
Let’s look at how much that additional reduction in excise duty means for hybrid cars. This is just a possible guesstimate, feel free to correct us in the comments. We are calculating the new Peninsular Malaysia price based on the Langkawi pricing (which gives us an indication of how much a truly tax free price would be, including whatever profit margin the local distributor wants to take) with an additional 10% added for sales tax. All prices are for private registration.

Honda Civic Hybrid Toyota Prius
Current Peninsular Price RM129,980.00 RM175,000.00
Current Langkawi Price RM100,980.00 RM127,408.45
Possible New Price RM111,078.00 RM140,149.30
Possible Savings of Excise Duty RM18,902.00 RM34,850.70

The budget text appendix also says that the new duty range is for applications beginning from January 2011 to the end of 2011 so we’re probably only going to see any drop in prices next year.
164 Comments
Budget 2011: BMW Malaysia dreams of cleaner fuel, government support for clean diesel technology
October 13, 2010 at 5:47 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011
The 2011 Budget will be tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the Dewan Rakyat this Friday (15 Oct). Many of us working in the private sector are hoping to get some share of the goodies, and some might be relieved to hear that the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been postponed by the Finance Ministry, deferred to “enable the Government to engage inclusively all segments of the people on the imposition of the GST”.

As motorists, we hope for the best, which is usually translated to no increase in costs. The automotive industry has its own wishlist too – for instance, Toyota would not have been able to launch the Prius here with a competitive price if not for the tax breaks for hybrid cars announced in Budget 2009.

BMW Group Malaysia, which has been a leader in introducing the latest in diesel technology in Malaysia despite the unfriendly conditions, is hoping that the Government sees diesel tech as a main component in its green policies. BMW argues that diesel tech will be a good friend to our wallets and the environment, something that this website fully agrees with. And like the rest of us, they’re also hoping that fuel quality is improved, fast.

Hybrid cars are becoming very attractive propositions thanks to the Government’s decision to fully waive excise and import duty, as announced in the 2011 Budget. UMW Toyota has already slashed the Toyota Prius’ price tag to RM139,900 from the previous RM175,000, and it’s Honda’s turn to reveal the new price of its Civic Hybrid. The green Civic is now priced at RM108,980 OTR with insurance, which is RM21,000 cheaper than before.

This means that the imported from Japan Civic Hybrid will be the most affordable Civic variant in Malaysia, undercutting the RM114,980 1.8S model, which is locally assembled by the way. The new price for East Malaysia is RM1,000 more than on the Peninsular, while Langkawi and Labuan buyers can have the car at RM100,980. It’s still cheaper in those duty free islands as they are exempted from a 10% sales tax.

“As the pioneer in introducing the hybrid technology to the Malaysian market, we are pleased with the government’s decision to allow full exemption of import duty and excise duty as announced in the recent Budget 2011. The move will make hybrid vehicles more accessible for environmentally conscious Malaysians. These exemptions are certainly timely as Honda is looking into expanding its hybrid vehicle line-up in Malaysia,” said Honda Malaysia President and COO, Rohime Shafie.

There you have it! Should be the Honda Insight, or perhaps even the CR-Z at a later date!
213 Comments



New Toyota Prius lowered price – RM139,900
October 28, 2010 at 11:07 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids, Electric vehicles, fuel cells, alternative fuel, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011, Toyota


The Toyota Prius will be priced at RM139,900 in the Peninsular Malaysia and RM141,500 in Sabah and Sarawak effective today. This is a drop of about RM35,000 in Peninsular Malaysia from the previous price of RM175,000.

That’s how much that remaining half-price excise duty means – RM35,000. Our prices are still higher than Langkawi’s prices as we still have 10% sales tax despite import duties and excise duties being 0% now. Just to recap – when the Budget 2011 was announced, the Malaysian government lowered the duties for hybrid vehicles below 2,000cc of displacement to 0% for both excise and import duty. Previously, the government gave 100% exemption of import duty but only 50% exemption for excise duty.

It looks like our estimation of the new Toyota Prius pricing after the complete removal of excise duties by the government was pretty much spot on after all. We estimated a price of around RM140,149.30 with a tax savings of about RM34,850.70. We calculated that based on the Langkawi price of RM127,408.45 and adding 10% sales tax. So we can assume that UMW Toyota is transferring 100% of the benefits of the tax break to the consumers.



Next up would be the Honda Civic Hybrid – an announcement from Honda Malaysia should be coming soon before the end of the year. Our pricing estimation for the Honda Civic Hybrid was RM111,078, a drop of about RM18,902 from the current price of RM129,980.

At the new price of RM139,900, the Toyota Prius really starts becoming very tempting. The new price is also below RM150k so it becomes more favorable in terms of claiming capital allowances – that should start driving up sales for the Prius as a company car as well.

We tried the Prius (watch our real life road test review on Driven or our Japanese closed track test drive on this blog) and found that it could give significantly lower fuel consumption without the driver consciously trying hard to save fuel – that’s what a good hybrid should be doing, not forcing you to mind your throttle to the point that it becomes distracting and unenjoyable.
152 Comments
Berjaya Corp granted local assembly manufacturing licence
October 22, 2010 at 1:55 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under BYD, Cars, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011


Well, another player has joined the list of local assemblers. Berjaya Corporation has been granted a manufacturing licence to build vehicles in the country by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, and with that is set to assemble commercial vehicles, hybrid cars, electric cars and luxury passenger vehicles at a 100-acre plant in Bukit Tagar, Selangor.

Tan Sri Vincent Tan, Berjaya Corp’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement that the license would allow Berjaya more flexibility and control in terms of quality and pricing of its vehicles. The group currently holds the distribution and marketing rights to a number of brands locally, including Mazda, Chana Era, Skoda and Jinbei.

“Besides strategically complementing and widening our existing range of motor brands, this will also be a good opportunity for Berjaya Corp to promote green technology through the development of hybrid and electric vehicles which are more environmentally friendly. In line with this, we hope to expand our market share and develop a more global presence,” he said.



The direction towards hybrid (and EV) assembly looks timely for Berjaya, given the recent full excise duty exemptions on hybrid cars below 2.0 litres until Dec 31 next year. The exemption under the budget, along with the manufacturing licence approved by MITI, effectively means that Berjaya Corp will be able to circumvent the revised National Automotive Policy’s clause of only issuing manufacturing licences for vehicles above a 1.8 litre engine displacement and RM150,000 pricing, which had earlier played havoc on its plans for local assembly.

Earlier in the year, Berjaya Corp had signed a MOU with Chinese automaker BYD Auto to locally assemble the latter’s 1.0 litre F0 four-door hatch, but the NAP directive kept that from developing. Now, with the manufacturing licence approval, the project should in all probability get underway, and the assumption is that BYD models such as e6 and F3DM should figure in plans at some point in the future.
63 Comments
Toyota to assemble Prius in Thailand for Asian markets
October 19, 2010 at 1:06 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids, Electric vehicles, fuel cells, alternative fuel, International News, Malaysia Budget 2011, Toyota


The recent hybrid-related announcement in Budget 2011 may have been cheery news for potential hybrid adopters, but here’s where it gets even better, especially for those looking closely at the Toyota Prius.

Toyota Motor Thailand is to begin production of the third-generation Prius hybrid, with the vehicle set for its soft launch on October 21 and its Thai market debut next month. The batteries and engine will be shipped in from Japan for Thai production.

Following the Camry hybrid, the ZVW30 will be TMT’s second locally-assembled hybrid. Thailand is the third country to build the Prius after Japan and China, and the vehicle will be exported to other Asian markets to meet rising demands – the assumption is of course that when Thai exports begin, Malaysia will be taking the Prius from here instead of from Japan.

Potentially, dependent on the Thai-made vehicle’s pricing, this would mean an even cheaper Prius in Malaysia. UMW Toyota is currently in the midst of carrying out a revision on the price of the Prius following the full exemption of the import/excise duty for hybrids. How much the Thai-made vehicle will figure towards the final revised price remains to be seen – we’ll just have to wait and see what the final numbers are.
174 Comments
Budget 2011: BMW hopes clean diesel will not be forgotten
October 15, 2010 at 8:02 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under BMW, Cars, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011
While the hot news was on hybrids and the only significant topic on the diesel front in Budget 2011 was on the implementation of the B5 programme (Blending of Biofuels with Petroleum Diesel) on a mandatory basis in some states by June of next year, there remains the hope that the Government will continue to look at improving the quality of petroleum diesel as another step in lowering carbon emissions.

BMW Group Malaysia is of the belief that such an approach is not only a viable alternative but a very sound one at that, with the following commentary on Budget 2011, which you will find after the jump. I think the key is here the comparison between the 320i and the 320d. Makes lots of sense really, when compared to what the United Nations defines the hybrid standard as.
[Read more...]
51 Comments
Honda Malaysia to review Honda Civic Hybrid pricetag
October 15, 2010 at 7:19 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, Hybrids, Electric vehicles, fuel cells, alternative fuel, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011


Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd has just issued a statement – they are quite pleased with the government’s decision to extend import duty and excise duty exemption for hybrid vehicles until 31st December 2011 with excise duty to be given full exemption. An internal review will be done and a new revised price structure for the Honda Civic Hybrid will be announced when the internal review has been completed.

Interestingly, Honda Malaysia also said that it is also looking to extending its hybrid vehicle line-up. Other than the Civic Hybrid, Honda also has the Honda Insight, Honda CR-Z, and the Honda Jazz Hybrid in its stables. Which would you rather see launched in Malaysia?
[Read more...]
91 Comments
Budget 2011: other motoring and transport related news
October 15, 2010 at 6:58 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011


Besides the news of the removal of the 50% excise duty of hybrid vehicles in Paul’s earlier story, there were some other items related to motoring and transport in Budget 2011.

Effective January 1 next year, the service tax on all taxable services will go up from 5% to 6%, which of course means that it’ll add to the cost of servicing and repairing your vehicle, among everything else that you can be expected to pay a service tax for.

Better news for frequent users of the four highways run by PLUS Expressways Berhad – as a means of alleviating your burden, the toll won’t be raised for the next five years.

As part of its plan to reduce the intensity of carbon emissions, the Government will also begin the implementation of its B5 programme – the blending of biofuel in diesel – on a mandatory basis in Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negeri Sembilian and Melaka starting from June 2011.

Elsewhere, some good news for the physically disabled who are able to drive – the current exemption of excise duty by 50% on the purchase of a national vehicle is now 100%, with all existing conditions for such a purchase remaining unchanged. The revised exemption, effective from October 18, is also extended to those with hearing and speaking disabilities.

In terms of public transport, work on the Mass Rapid Transit rail system in the Klang Valley is slated to begin in 2011. The project, which is estimated to cost RM40 billion, is aimed at providing an efficient transport system that will reduce travelling time and offer better connectivity in the Klang Valley.

The project will be integrated to other modes of transportation, including buses and taxis (it’ll be interesting to see how this one works – a definite overhaul is needed, for sure), and is expected to be completed by 2020. Upon its completion, the Government expects that the utilisation rate of public transport to increase by at least 40%.

Meanwhile, rural roads get that much needed improvement – Sabah and Sarawak is to get an allocation of RM2.1 billion for the building and upgrading of rural roads, while RM696 million will be set aside for those in the Peninsular.
97 Comments
Hybrid car tax exemption to be extended to end of 2011
October 15, 2010 at 4:41 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids, Electric vehicles, fuel cells, alternative fuel, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011
In today’s Budget 2011 announcement, the PM has announced that import duty and excise duty is now FULLY exempted for hybrid and electric cars and motorcycles until the end of the year 2011.

■The duty exemption has been extended until the 31st of December 2011, it was supposed to expire by the end of this year.
■The duties for hybrid cars are even lower now. Previously the government offered 100% import duty exemption and 50% excise duty exemption, now it’s 100% exemption for both import duty and excise duty! This should mean the price of the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid should be even lower now.
■Exemptions have now been extended to electric cars, hybrid motorcycles as well as electric motorcycles.
■The rest of the details are status quo, for example the exemptions still only apply to internal combustion engines with capacities of lower than 2.0 liters, so there’s still no way for the Toyota Camry Hybrid to be brought in with these tax benefits.
Let’s look at how much that additional reduction in excise duty means for hybrid cars. This is just a possible guesstimate, feel free to correct us in the comments. We are calculating the new Peninsular Malaysia price based on the Langkawi pricing (which gives us an indication of how much a truly tax free price would be, including whatever profit margin the local distributor wants to take) with an additional 10% added for sales tax. All prices are for private registration.

Honda Civic Hybrid Toyota Prius
Current Peninsular Price RM129,980.00 RM175,000.00
Current Langkawi Price RM100,980.00 RM127,408.45
Possible New Price RM111,078.00 RM140,149.30
Possible Savings of Excise Duty RM18,902.00 RM34,850.70

The budget text appendix also says that the new duty range is for applications beginning from January 2011 to the end of 2011 so we’re probably only going to see any drop in prices next year.
164 Comments
Budget 2011: BMW Malaysia dreams of cleaner fuel, government support for clean diesel technology
October 13, 2010 at 5:47 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Local News, Malaysia Budget 2011
The 2011 Budget will be tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the Dewan Rakyat this Friday (15 Oct). Many of us working in the private sector are hoping to get some share of the goodies, and some might be relieved to hear that the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been postponed by the Finance Ministry, deferred to “enable the Government to engage inclusively all segments of the people on the imposition of the GST”.

As motorists, we hope for the best, which is usually translated to no increase in costs. The automotive industry has its own wishlist too – for instance, Toyota would not have been able to launch the Prius here with a competitive price if not for the tax breaks for hybrid cars announced in Budget 2009.

BMW Group Malaysia, which has been a leader in introducing the latest in diesel technology in Malaysia despite the unfriendly conditions, is hoping that the Government sees diesel tech as a main component in its green policies. BMW argues that diesel tech will be a good friend to our wallets and the environment, something that this website fully agrees with. And like the rest of us, they’re also hoping that fuel quality is improved, fast.