15 year old car annual inspection precursor to full vehicle end of life policy - NAP Review

Under Section E Part VI of the NAP Review, the government revealed that it would be implementing a full Vehicle End of Life policy which would come in stages. A roadmap will be formulated by the Ministry of Transport to lay out the steps towards the scrap policy implementation, but the first step is already here – a mandatory yearly inspection for cars older than 15 years in order to get their road tax renewed. Why 15 years? Could that be the vehicle age that they are looking at to enforce scrapping in the future?

According to the NAP review, Malaysia currently has 2.7 million cars on the road that are 10 years or older and the country has a very low vehicle scrap rate and a relatively high average vehicle age. With so many people having to go for 7 to 9 year loans to buy their vehicles, is this really a surprise that after suffering financial burden for so long, you would want to reap the benefit of your transportation longer?

There are currently a few situations where we go to Puspakom for their dreaded tests. It is an open secret what kind of environment that place is. A friend of mine had his tint test failed repeatedly even though his car windscreen was clear and had absolutely no tint. He argued that he should not be failed and somehow he ended up passing but with some rubber parts of his car damaged. When my E30 was sent for an ownership change inspection (B5 test), it came back with a broken glovebox latch and all the rubber trim around the door utterly raped.

If you are a straight shooter the only cash you will have to pay during these annual road tax inspections are the Puspakom fees itself. Right now there are two tests for private motorcars – the transfer of ownership test and a voluntary test which most of the time is not really voluntary – you may need certificates from these tests to renew your insurance these days. The ownership transfer test involves checking your vehicle identity (chassis and engine), chassis frame condition, and tinted glass. The voluntary inspection checks more stuff – identity, above carriage, emissions, brakes, suspension, side slip, speedometer, headlamps, undercarriage and tinted glass.

The voluntary test goes for RM50 (according to this Puspakom pricelist) and the transfer test costs RM30. So you can expect this annual inspection for road tax renewal to probably cost around these prices as well.

Not only is 2010 going to introduce the first commercially available wireless LTE networks but it looks like various cars of the future will be able to offer the same high-speed 4G connectivity.

The first LTE Connected Car in the world is going to be the Toyota Prius
. As announced by ng Connect, the popular hybrid car will offer on board 4G LTE connectivity at some point in the future.

Toyota, as a member of the ng Connect Program, has worked with various companies in order to transform the 2010 Toyota Prius into the first connected LTE hybrid car in the world. With technological support from companies like Alcatel-Lucent, Atlantic Records, QNX Software Systems, chumby and Kabillion, the future Prius will be able to deliver that fast 4G connectivity that we were waiting for. Such a feature is definitely most welcomed while being on the road. It’s the driver’s job to focus on the road but everyone else can enjoy various services made possible by an LTE network.

The LTE Connected Car will offer you “entertainment, infotainment and security
services” like vide on-demand, gaming, GPS navigation, vehicle monitoring, home control and a more. Wi-Fi support will definitely be included which means that connected devices will be able to browse the web freely while inside the 2010 Toyota Prius.

Various cell phone makers and wireless subscribers are getting ready to roll out new products that will offer you LTE connectivity and LTE-based services. Most carriers will probably have LTE available next year which might mean that an LTE Connected Toyota Prius could arrive at some point later next year. And let’s not forget about the recent announcement made by a lot of important names in the mobile business earlier this week. An LTE standard solution for voice and SMS services has been already agreed upon which means we’re almost good to go.

New National Automotive Policy 2009 Review Results

Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) will release details on the long-awaited review of the National Automotive Policy (NAP) at 10am Wednesday, according to press invites it sent out on Tuesday.

Miti’s review of the NAP would probably include fresh measures and incentives aimed at making the local automotive industry more competitive regionally and in the international market as a whole. The summary of the NAP was written as below:

• A total of 18 new policies and measures covering licencing, duties, incentives, technology and environment, safety and standards and APs to be effective January 1st 2010.
• Open AP system to be scrapped by December 31 2015.
• AP holders will be audited twice a year.
• A gazetted Customs pricelist for used CBU cars to be established to supplement the current list of new CBU cars. This will be used to prevent underdeclaration of grey import vehicles by declaring then as “used” instead of new in order to manipulate the price, as the gazetted pricelist is currently only for new vehicles.
• A large chunk of the RM300 million expected to be collected from the RM10,000 per Open AP fee to be used to develop the auto industry and increase Bumiputra entrepreneurship participation in the auto industry.
• Import duty on CBU & CKD cars maintained.
• Import of used parts to stop in June 2011 (what???).
• Incentives and exemptions will be increased to develop local auto parts.
• Franchise APs to be terminated by December 31 2020.
• Foreign firms can apply for manufacturing licenses to hold 100% shares in firms to produce vehicles with engine capacity of larger than 1,800cc and costing more than RM150,000. This will open up the upper end of the market while keeping the lower end where Proton and Perodua are protected.
• Issuance of new Manufacturing License to be unfrozen for selected segments – hybrid and electric vehicles, pick-up trucks, commercial vehicles and motorcycles with engine capacity of 200cc and above.
• Vehicles 15 years and older will have to be tested annually for roadworthiness; provisions to be made for vintage cars.
• A new strategic partnership between Proton and an established manufacturer will be established.
• Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to establish clear roadmap for fuel standards and quality towards Euro 4M standards to be implemented by 2011
• Automotive Development Fund and Industrial Adjustment Fund will be continued. Despite excise duty and import duty being the same across the board for all makes whether ‘national’ or foreign, cars that have a decent amount of local content as well as proof of local activities such as R&D will receive incentives from the funds. This is where national makes like Proton gets an advantage – despite an equally high excise duty, it gets rebates because its cars are developed locally. Supposedly anyone who meets the fund requirements are able to get the same incentives, but it’s safe to say only Proton has that much investment in the Malaysian auto industry.
• Exemptions on statutory income from exported goods will be increased to 30% from 10% for goods with at least 30% value-added content (I’m guessing this means local content), and from 15% to 50% for goods with at least 50% value-added content.