A joint statement by Volkswagen and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority said the centre, which occupies 50,000 square metres, can store more parts and thus extend the range and depth for better parts availability.

It is located in the free trade zone with direct port connectivity. The new facility is also customised to Volkswagen Group’s requirements.

International trade minister Azmin Ali said there had been a trend of many global and regional distribution hubs being set up in Malaysia in industries such as automotive, life sciences and medical devices, electrical and electronics, and machinery and equipment.

Volkswagen Group sales head Dr Christian Dahlheim said the Asia-Pacific region offers a lot of growth potential for the group, especially for electric vehicles.

“Malaysia offers a central and well-connected location which perfectly suits our plans to expand our foothold in the region,” he said.

There are 65,000 parts for Audi and Skoda passenger cars and Volkswagen passenger and commercial vehicles.

“Our new parts distribution centre in Malaysia undoubtedly strengthens Volkswagen Group’s global after-sales supply chain, a key milestone in providing improved genuine parts delivery to our customers in Asia Pacific,” he said.

“We were pleased by the ease of implementing our project here and the assistance given by MIDA,” said the group’s After Sales head, Roman Havlásek.

The group’s project was facilitated by the global trading centre scheme, announced in the 2021 budget, to encourage multinational corporations and local companies to establish their global and regional distribution hubs.