Cars in Malaysia are cheaper than in other countries

The Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI) has rubbished a report by popular car news portal, Jalopnik, that ranked Malaysia as the second most expensive place in the world to buy a car.

MAI CEO, Mohamad Madani Sahari said the report was unfair as it was based on only one car model, the Scion Fr-S.

"It is not fair to make a comparison solely based on a single model, and this model is a high-end sports car not meant for the masses," he told Astro AWANI.

He defended the prices of locally-made cars, saying that some local cars were among the cheapest in Asia.

"MAI has conducted an overall car price comparison in Asia. Car prices in Singapore and Vietnam are generally higher than in Malaysia.

"Models like Proton Saga SV is sold at RM33,438 in Malaysia while the same model is sold at RM40,581 in Thailand, RM40,246 in Indonesia and RM81,823 in Singapore.

"Malaysia has the cheapest car price among other countries that are selling the Perodua Viva 660 BX.

"Even for luxurious cars such as Volkswagen Golf, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and BMW 740Li, the models are priced higher especially in Thailand and Vietnam compared to Malaysia," he said.

Mohamad Madani said the cost to maintain a car including fuel consumption was also fairly cheap in Malaysia.

"The price of fuel in Malaysia, apart from Brunei, is the cheapest in Asia. Even an oil-producing country like Indonesia is selling fuel at RM4 per litre compared to the RM2.10 here .

"Also, the insurance premium and road tax in Malaysia are among the most competitive in the region," he said.

Jalopnik, in an article titled 'The 10 Most Expensive Places To Buy A Car' labelled Malaysia as the second most expensive country to buy a car, right behind Singapore.

Following that, a local daily's survey of top car manufacturers’ websites reveals that Malaysians pay up to twice what American consumers pay for a similar car in the United States.