Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said this can be achieved through close cooperation with Tenaga Nasional Bhd, which is now working on raising the component of clean energy and making more charging stations available to electric car users.
He said the two companies could also work together to introduce charging rates that are affordable to car owners.
Ismail said telecommunications providers such as Telekom Malaysia could also join in the fray by introducing affordable data packages that would enable users to book charging stations online.
“Such joint efforts should be launched quickly to reduce our impact on the environment, given that climate change is now affecting the globe,” he said at the launch of the all-new Perodua Alza compact multi-purpose vehicle at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
Ismail said that the government was prepared to help Perodua expand its existing markets and explore new markets.
He also expressed hope that the company will continue to enhance its production capabilities and subsequently achieve economies of scale that are competitive and on par with foreign companies within the region.
Ismail also lauded the carmaker for its continued commitment to the local automotive sector with the purchase of automotive components of an average of RM7 billion annually.
“I was made to understand that there are local component companies that have become component suppliers to Daihatsu in Japan,” he said.
“This is a great achievement for the country given that we used to import components from Japan but we are now exporting these components there,” he added.
The prime minister also expressed gratitude to Perodua for seeking opportunities for cooperation with various ministries to develop the automotive industry’s ecosystem in the country in line with the “Keluarga Malaysia” concept.
“These efforts should serve as an example for other local companies, wherein the interest of the country is prioritised for the well-being of all,” he added.
Ismail expressed confidence that Malaysia will be able to achieve a vehicle sales target of 600,000 units in 2022, an increase of 17.9% compared with what was recorded in 2021.
Perodua president and CEO Zainal Abidin Ahmad said the company is already looking into the possibility of producing an electric vehicle.
Zainal also assured customers that Perodua would make good on its promise to deliver their vehicles before the March 31, 2023 deadline although the company has more than 200,000 bookings to fulfil.
“We will deliver our vehicles before the deadline to all our customers who made their bookings during the sales and service tax (SST) exemption period,” he said.
Currently, Perodua has 243,000 bookings, out of which 30,000 consisted of the latest Alza. Nearly 4,000 customers have converted their orders to the latest iteration of the seven-seater compact MPV.
When asked if the sales has been affected following the expiry of the SST exemption on June 30, the CEO said that it was “only marginal”.
He told FMT Business that the waiting period is currently up to 10 months and that production balancing will be done to shorten the waiting period for popular models such as the Myvi, Alza and Aruz.
He expects 4,300 units of the new Alza to be registered this month.
The company has targeted to sell 247,800 units by year-end (2022) for an increase of 30.2% year-on-year from 190,291 in 2021.
A total of 61,624 Perodua vehicles were registered in the first quarter of this year, up 6.4% from 57,909 vehicles sold in the same period in 2021.
During the launch, the MPV was unveiled in three variants and has been priced on-the-road without insurance but with SST at RM62,500 for the entry-level X variant.
The mid-range H variant costs RM68,000 while the range-topping AV variant is tagged at RM75,500.
Purchasers can choose from among five colours, namely elegant black, garnet red, glittering silver, ivory white and vintage brown.