BMW Group Malaysia announced that the company has achieved another record performance in the third quarter of 2014 for its Malaysian business units – BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad.
As of the end of September 2014, BMW Group Malaysia delivered a total of 6,629 vehicles in the country, consisting of 5,782 BMW, 473 MINI and 374 BMW Motorrad vehicles, an increase of 18% compared to the total of 5,616 vehicles delivered during the same period in 2013.
Since January 2014, BMW Group Malaysia has introduced an array of new BMW, MINI and BMW Motorrad models to spur the Malaysian premium segment. These newly introduced cars comprise of the all-new BMW X5, BMW 2 Series Coupe, BMW 4 Series Convertible, BMW 420i Coupe, BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe, BMW M3 Sedan, BMW M4 Coupe, BMW X4, the new 3rd generation MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S as well as the 55 Edition MINI Countryman.
2014 was also a tremendous year for BMW Motorrad which saw the introduction of 7 new motorcycles with the new BMW R nineT, BMW S1000R, BMW R1200 GS Adventure, BMW 1200 RT, BMW K1600 GTL Exclusive as well as the new regionally assembled BMW F 800 R and BMW F800 GS.
Of all 11 new premium cars and 7 new premium motorcycles introduced this year, the BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo, BMW X3, BMW X5 and the 55 Edition MINI Cooper Countryman are assembled at its facility in Kulim, Kedah growing the number of locally assembled models to 17 variants.
Touching on the Malaysian automotive industry as a whole, Mr. Alan Harris, Managing Director, BMW Group Malaysia noted that 2014 has been a fairly progressive year so far with the Malaysian government outlining policies regarding the assembly of EEV vehicles in the country, the continued improvement of ASEAN NCAP standards by MIROS which progressively encourages manufacturers to build safer cars and the planned limited introduction of Euro IV quality diesel fuel in certain parts of the state Johor, which has demonstrated a positive move in the direction of increasing vehicle emission quality which BMW Group Malaysia hopes will serve as a catalyst for its widespread adoption throughout the country. He said,
“We at BMW Group Malaysia believe that the business growth of the Malaysian automotive industry must coincide with a concerted effort to also improve benchmark standards in quality, sustainability as well as safety. While we do applaud the Malaysian government’s recognition of the automotive industry as a key industry for the country, greater progress must be done to steer Malaysia towards becoming a regional hub for the manufacture and assembly of Advanced and Environmentally Friendly Automotive Technology as the country faces closer economic integration and liberation with its South-East Asian neighbours as well as competitors via AFTA.”
Harris further added that while it is ideal that the Malaysian government is looking to reduce the prices of passenger cars in the long term, the industry should be realistic and careful about communicating this to the Malaysian public as to not disrupt the current growth the industry is facing. He said,
“Saying that car prices will come down in the coming months is an injustice to industry as it is merely speculative and will make Malaysians adopt a wait a see strategy in their purchasing decision which is currently happening in the market. The Malaysian duty and pricing framework in which all automakers work in is complicated but the main goal at the end of the day is to provide all Malaysians a great value for their car and this is what we at BMW believe.”
