It looks like the used recon car Approved Permit business is not as good as it used to be.
The new Approved Permit holders are suffering, their business is declining, they are having tough times and worse still, they cannot afford to pay for the expensive lifestyle.
It is time for the rest of the Malaysian car buying population to come together to push the Malaysian government to give them a helping hand.
They have mouths to feed and salaries to pay and we should rally behind them to assist their plight. Yes? No!
Decades ago, the average resale value of a used car AP was between RM30,000 to a possible high of RM50,000 a unit (yes, AP’s have been on sale to regular used car dealers for years despite it being not allowed).
This is why we have AP Kings who have made their billions years ago and today they just sit back and enjoy.
- Are any of the AP Kings in any way helping with Covid-19 stricken individuals in Malaysia?
- Are any of them providing free food for the hungry?
- Are any of them helping the poor with their bills?
- Are any of them re-investing in Malaysia to bring our economy back up?
- Are any of them providing job security for their employees?
- Have they ever helped the needy without media coverage?
So, if you had a low 100 AP’s year awarded to you by the Ministry Of Trade And Industry (MITI) you could make a very low just 3,000,000.00 a year minimum before paying for a high office cost of two clerks, shop house rental and two document runners which might add up to at the most RM30,000 a month which is about RM360,000 a year.
That leaves the AP king a net possible income of ONLY RM2,640,000.00 which is a very low RM220,000 income a month before paying for income tax. This relates to about RM7k plus a day income only. What a small business model to be involved in.
So, as time passed and the vehicle Approved Permit (AP) business got more competitive, many of the established AP holders found their profits shrinking and they needed to be smart in their selection of vehicles to import and sell so as to turnaround a profit faster.
Today, the resale value of AP’s is between RM8,000 to a high RM10,000 an AP and it is till going on even if MITI says that they have tough check and balances to make sure it is not happening.
This reduces the income of AP kings to a low, low, low RM70,000 plus a month, sad is it not. Feeling sorry and worried for their well being? Well, you decide. As of 2019, there were a total of 164 approved permit car importers in Malaysia and we think this number should be reduced by more than half to start and a total removal of the car AP system in the coming two years.
If the vehicle AP system continues, there will be little reason for car brands like Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Ford, Hyundai, Kia, Peugeot, Renault, Nissan, Porsche, Jaguar, Land Rover Volvo, Perodua, Proton, Haval, Isuzu, Subaru, Ferrari, Maserati, Citroen, DS, Mitsubishi, Westar, Lexus, Infiniti, McLaren, Lamborghini, Aston Martin, Bentley, Rolls Royce and Mini to continue investing in showrooms, factory expansion and job training for doing legitimate tax paying business in Malaysia.
