SEPANG, Aug 13 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today there is a need for the automobile industry to move away from petrol-based engines to hybrid and electric ones. 

Claiming that the industry is not doing so well at the moment, he said the move towards hybrid and electric engines is a necessary progress for the third national car project.

"So if you want to have a third national car, it should be capable of hybridisation,” Dr Mahathir said following the 21st anniversary of the KLIA airport.  

Going into the mechanical details of how such cars function, he dismissed naysayers wh said that a third national car is unnecessary.

"The car business is not static just like the aviation industry. Everything changes and progresses. 

"If you do not keep up, you will be left behind. Our intention behind the third national car project is to stimulate the engineering industry,” Dr Mahathir said. 

Last week, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry announced that Cyberjaya-based company DreamEDGE will produce Malaysia’s third national car.

The first model prototype is expected in March 2020 with the first car launch likely to be in March 2021.