KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 17 — Mercedes-Benz Malaysia (MBM) is considering to introduce its electric vehicle (EV), the EQ, locally but this will depend on the National Automotive Policy (NAP) and the charging infrastructure.

MBM president and chief executive officer Claus Weidner said the company was looking at the economic feasibility of bringing in the EQ.

"However, the local introduction will be dependent on the government’s incentive for the production and regulations in the market,” he said during a virtual media roundtable today.

According to him, the carmaker has plans to bring the EV into Malaysia but it will have to adjust accordingly due to the uncertainties and political environment.

"We have had a discussion before but we have to see whether our requirements are met. We will continue to work closely with the Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute and the International Trade and Industry Ministry to see what are the requirements under the revised NAP to see if we can bring in this EV,” he added.

He said that company’s plans going forward hinged on the government’s direction on how it wanted to introduce this kind of technology in the market.

On MBM’s outlook for the year, Weidner said vehicle sales tax exemption, digitalisation efforts as well as economic recovery would drive the performance of the company as well as the domestic automotive industry.

He said MBM would go forward with its customer-centric strategies amid the volatile situation.

"We have introduced digital strategies, which include digital launches and virtual showroom, and through digitalisation, we can reach to more customers,” he said.

However, he declined to disclose the sales target for this year.

Despite a challenging 2020, Mercedes-Benz International delivered more than two million cars globally for the fifth consecutive year, helped by advanced digitisation in sales and service. — Bernama