Too many taxes: Syed Azman supports call to reduce car prices

The Weststar Group Managing Director said there are too many kinds of taxes when it comes to owning motor vehicles.

“We pay import duties, excise duties, we pay sales tax, and we pay road tax. On top of that we pay tolls, so can you imagine how much it costs to own a car?” he said to reporters after a signing ceremony between Weststar Aviation Services Sdn Bhd and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).

He said back in the days, it only cost him RM7,000 to own his first car but now the price is so expensive.

“I think government should do away with some of the taxes, maybe do away with road tax, no more road tax since we’re paying too much on excise duty,” he said.

He also suggested the government to throw away the import tax and excise tax by introducing the goods and services tax (GST).

Weststar Group has become a leading supplier of high-end imported cars through its subsidiary company, SAFZ Auto and also a dominant dealer in dealing Honda vehicles nationwide via Weststar Auto Sdn Bhd.

Recently, a report by local press The New Straits Times revealed that Malaysians are paying up to twice the price of cars that Americans are paying for some cars.

The survey done based on top car manufacturers’ websites has shown that cars like Honda Civic 1.8MT and Mercedes C250 cost two times less compared to the similar cars sold in Malaysia.

Malaysia is also ranked as the second most expensive place to buy a car in the world, right behind Singapore, in an article, 'The 10 Most Expensive Places To Buy A Car', on the popular car news portal, Jalopnik, recently.

This lead to calls by certain groups including the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (FOMCA) who said it was high time that the government reduce the prices of cars, especially after the reduction of petrol subsidy.

FOMCA Chief Executive Officer Datuk Paul Selvaraj argued that even developed countries had cheaper cars compared to Malaysia, and questioned why Malaysians must pay more for their cars.