CHINA automobile maker Geely’s current priority is to help improve Malaysia’s competitiveness in the automotive industry’s supply chain.

According to Geely chairman Li Shufu, Malaysia’s automotive supply chain costs 30% higher than China and 10% higher than Thailand.

This is due to reliance on imports for supply of parts.

Local automobile portal Paultan reported that Li made the comments in an interview on China’s state-owned CCTV programme “Dialogue” which was picked up by Chinese tech website CNMO.

Li said that Malaysia’s automotive parts supply still relies heavily on overseas imports, and that the relatively small size of the local automotive market meant it was difficult to get enough scale to keep costs down.

He added that having realised the seriousness of the matter, one of Geely’s current priorities is to help improve this situation.

In line with that, Geely will promote the localisation of Malaysia’s auto parts industry by introducing advanced global auto parts companies into the market and strengthening cooperation with local suppliers.

The Chinese automaker said last year it had big plans to increase its investments in Malaysia to the tune of RM32 billion, while making the country its production hub for export markets. – June 7, 2024.