Below are the highlights of the new National Automotive Policy announced on Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009

1) Local assembly of luxury passenger above 1,800cc and priced above RM150,000 on-the-road fully liberalised. Foreigners can own 100% of assembly operations.

2) APs to be stopped by Dec 2015.Audit on AP recipients ongoing and checks to be done. Those flouting will be removed from list.

3) Gradual introduction of Vehicle End of Life Policy. For starters vehicles above 15 yrs will have to undergo mandatory inspection during renewal of road tax.

4) Import Duty structure maintained at 0% for CKD and 5% for CBU for AFTA.

5) Excise duty structure remains. No changes.

6) All imported used vehicles prices will be gazetted to prevent under-declaration.

7) Manufacturing of critical components for cars such as brake system and transmission to get incentives such as Pioneer Status/Investment Tax Allowance.

8) The import of used parts/components will be prohibited from June 2011.

9) Proton to establish strategic partnership with global OEM.

10) The current policy on the freeze of manufacturing licence for reconditioning and reassembling (rebuilt) activities is maintained.

Written by The Edge FinancialDaily