Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today he would unveil a new national auto policy in December to lower import tariffs from January under a regional free trade pact but told consumers not to expect cheaper cars.

"The price will be more or less the same. Don't expect some very big reduction," Abdullah, who is also finance minister, told a news conference after opening a two-day economic conference.

"Anyway, just be patient, you won't have to wait long," he said, adding that the new tax structure would be announced "before the end of the year."

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) slashed tariffs on most products traded within the region to below five percent in 2003 as part of efforts to form a powerful trading bloc to counter China's overwhelming economic clout.

However, Malaysia, one of the two top car manufacturers in the region along with Thailand, has delayed opening its auto sector until 2005 to prepare state auto manufacturer Proton for competition.

Import tarriffs cut

Malaysia is expected to cut import tariffs to 20 percent from January under the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) programme and gradually to below five percent by 2008.

Industry experts recently predicted that Asean was set to become the world's fifth-largest automobile market in 2005 but success hinged on implementation of the delayed Afta.

An integrated Asean is expected to see 1.6 million vehicle sales in 2005 and 2.3 million by 2010, according to Ford Motor chief Bill Ford.

Only Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines have implemented the Afta pact, while other members are reducing tariffs in a slow piecemeal way while retaining high non-tariff barriers, experts say.