I refer to your report on Oct 26, 2012, entitled ‘Longer repayments won't solve high car price woes' where Dato' Sri Mustapa Mohamed was reported to have mentioned "flexi-payment schemes offered by banks specifically to students and graduates that offer longer repayment periods can help the rakyat deal with high car prices".

Allow me to clarify that in reply to a question in Dewan Rakyat on Oct 24, 2012, Dato' Sri Mustapa said that a certain car maker in Malaysia has "offered 50 percent discounts in maintenance cost for two years, low installments, insurance incentives, free driving license" and "it is understood that a few more companies will be making announcements in the near future offering incentives to enable the Rakyat to buy cars at lower prices" (Please refer to Hansard quotation below).

The minister did not represent, suggest or imply in any manner that longer repayments of loan would solve the problem of high car price.

We are deeply concerned by the reactions from your readers and appreciate if you could assist in clarifying this matter.

Hansard, Dewan Rakyat 24 October 2012:

"Tuan Yang di-Pertua, walaupun kerajaan tidak menurunkan duti eksais, saya ingin memaklumkan bahawa Perodua telah mengambil keputusan untuk membuat tawaran termasuklah diskaun kepada pembeli, satu program yang dinamakan What's Up Graduate, di mana diberikan diskaun sebanyak 50% bagi kos penyelenggaraan selama dua tahun, bayaran bulanannya rendah, insentif insurans, lesen memandu percuma dan ini telah pun ditawarkan oleh Perodua.

Beberapa buah syarikat lain Honda, Volkswagen, Chevrolet dan Ford difahamkan juga akan membuat pengumuman sedikit masa lagi, ada beberapa syarikat ini sudah pun membuat pengumuman tetapi lain-lain syarikat akan membuat pengumuman dalam sedikit masa lagi di mana mereka menawarkan beberapa insentif untuk membolehkan rakyat membeli kereta pada harga yang lebih murah daripada harga sebelumnya.

Tuan Yang di-Pertua, kita berharap langkah yang diambil oleh beberapa buah syarikat di negara kita ini akan sedikit sebanyak akan mengurangkan beban yang ditanggung oleh pembeli-pembeli kereta baru di negara kita, terima kasih."

ALBERT CH'NG CHUN MENG is from the Corporate Communications Unit, International Trade and Industry Ministry.