The Malaysian car industry at the crossroads: time to change gear?

Abstract

The history of the motor vehicle industry in Malaysia began in 1926 when the Ford Motor Company of Malaya was incorpora- ted in Singapore. Ford however did not assemble any vehicle; its main functions were wheel fitment and body touch-up performed by a labour force of 16 workers. Assembly operations at Ford started in 1930 with Canadian-sourced vehicles but these operations were interrupted by the Second World War (Asian Auto, 1976). Following the Japanese surrender, fullscale assembly operations resumed with the Ford factory supplying the Malaya, Singapore and North Borneo markets. Singapore separated from Malaysia in 1965 and in the following year Malaysia restricted the import of cars from Singapore. Subsequently the Ford plant concentrated on assembling cars for the Singapore market only while completely built-up cars were imported into Malaysia.