Car prices in 2020 will be going UP-wards. Fact!
The first issue to understand is, the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government is NOT raising the import tax on local assembled and semi-knocked down cars.
The second issue to understand is that the PH government is trying very hard ‘plug’ all the holes in the previous tax system where some car brands made extraordinary profits whilst keeping certain officials happy.
The third and final issue to understand is the PH government has uncovered a long unpaid tax bill by some car manufacturers and they are trying to collect these unpaid taxes to clear part of our nations debt.
So, NEW car prices will be going up, but only for brands that will now have to pay full and proper taxes and this means some popular cars that Malaysians love will cost more when new models are introduced and for some others, their prices will remain as is until currency issues crop up.
The shenanigans of the previous long ruling government have put a big debt on our nation and the princely life enjoyed by former administrators and their families continue and will easily continue for at least 4-5 generations with the tens of millions that each of them have ‘put away’ in offshore bank accounts.
Most of this monies will never return to Malaysia and this is a fact. Meanwhile the majority of Malaysians who are middle class will ‘pay’ for our nations debt with higher prices in all areas including the purchase of NEW cars.
Yes, we are all car crazy in one way or another and for many middle class Malaysians, owning a car is the next most important item after a home (for a some, the car comes before the home). This is why we have high new car sales for a rather small population when compared to other ASEAN nations and even some nations further south.
Drive around any middle class neighborhood and the average household will have at least 2 cars and a motorcycle. Actually, more like 3 cars and a motorcycle. The motorcycle is for errands and short trips for some, and some others this is the primary work mobility vehicle for the man of the house. The second car in the garage is the wife’s car and the first car is the family car (or vise versa).
Now, for many of these abovementioned households, the monthly repayments for the 2-3 vehicles is higher than the house monthly payments and here is where the problem lies. We Malaysians have been forced into high car prices to fill the pockets of previous administrators for many many many years and now the nations debts will have to be repaid one way or another.
The only way to pay all the previous debts will be via back taxes and this is why the relevant Ministries are imposing tough checks on all car manufacturers in the country, both local assembled and imported vehicles, to get as much back tax income as possible.
The administrators before ignored small loopholes in the local assembled vehicle industry and this allowed car manufacturers to bring their cost down and share the savings with Malaysians with better pricing on new cars.
With the new administrators, the cost of local assembling a car has gone up and the new administrators are able to collect more tax which goes into paying the debts of the previous administrators.
So what does all the above mean for the NEW car buyer in 2020? Higher prices!
Remember, all and we do mean all car brands want to sell their vehicles at the best price in order to get more sales and increase their market share. Only super luxury car brands prefer to keep their prices up to maintain their exclusivity.
