SHAH ALAM, 21 Jan: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) reiterates their demand for the BN Government to abolish the existing excise tax system to reduce the prices of cars immediately so that users will not have to bear the burdensome tax.
PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli and Selangor state assembly deputy Speaker Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, in a joint statement, said that the BN Government’s refusal to implement key policy reforms to the automotive industry has caused the prices of cars in Malaysia to be among the most expensive in the world.
They said that the people are demanding for BN to fulfill their promise to lower the overall price of cars, involving all car models across the industry as proposed by Pakatan Rakyat.
“The only way the BN government can fulfil its election promise to lower car prices is through an across the board reduction or removal of excise duties, and not by limiting it to specific models as announced.
“We are also disappointed with the recent flip-flop by BN to maintain the AP system on the excuse that more studies are needed.
According to them, the National Automotive Policy 2014 (NAP2014) does not even touch on some key areas that have resulted in car prices being so high in Malaysia.
The BN Government should not have hyped about the reduced car prices when only a few car models are introduced in the market at a lower price.
Rafizi and Nik Nazmi, however, slammed the government for allegedly misleading the public into believing that there has been an actual drop in prices compared to previous levels, saying that these were not permanent and did not apply across the board.
“There are some models introduced on a discount that are old models whose development cost has already been recouped by the car company, so it enables the model to be sold at a lower price,” they said.
“(Minister of Internal Trade and Industry) Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohamad, as the minister responsible, should have done adequate research before making any promises to bring down car prices in BN’s 13th general election manifesto,” they said.
The approach of promising first then buying time by announcing study after study is BN’s ploy which is often being practiced recently when the failed to deliver on their promises,” he said.
