The roll out of new variants of car models last year may have provided cheaper options to buyers, but industry experts say that - when compared on apple-to-apple basis - prices did not go down.

Referring to a chart presented by the International Trade and Industry Ministry yesterday, automotive magazine editor Anthony Lim said what was compared were cheaper variants of the same model, where some convenience features were removed.

For example, he said, the New Honda Jazz which at RM74,800 is 17 percent cheaper than the Honda Jazz had “some of the kit removed”.

“What they have done is they assembled it here and removed some of the kit. It's the same car but specification levels are a bit different,” said Lim, who is part of leading automotive website paultan.org said.

“When they do this, they bring the pricing down and adjust accordingly. It is actually the removal of features to make the car more competitive. It is actually the initiative of manufacturers themselves, not the government, in making cars cheaper.”

He said manufacturers have taken various approaches to cutting costs, be it on the production line or through retail discounts.

“The government has no direct say in it by saying you must do this and we will give you five percent (less in duties, for instance),” he said.

“(The list of models in the chart) would have to be something they have to dig out because other cars have not dropped in price.”

He said Proton had taken a similar approach in the roll out of the Saga SV which has less convenience features compared to the Saga FLX, resulting in a 12 percent price drop.

Lim noted that the comparison between the Nissan Sentra and Nissan Almera is “not fair” as these belong to different models altogether.

“It's just very convenient as before the Almera, (Nissan's sole distributor in Malaysia) Tan Chong Motor Holdings only sold the Sentra. So there was no other direct comparison (for the Almera).

“Would it be fair? No, but if you ask if it is the only means of comparison? Then, yes,” he said.

Other car experts consulted by Malaysiakini said only the Perodua Alza Advanced was compared on an apple-to-apple basis.

While the Alza comparison showed that Perodua had actually slashed RM5,117 or 7 percent off the exact variant, other comparisons were described as “comparing an iPhone 4 with an iPhone 5”.

The iPhone is a mobile telephone produced by Apple, with different versions of the phone denoted by the model number at the end. The iPhone 5 is the latest version.

As for the Nissan models, an automotive journalist, who declined to be identified, said the Almera was comparable to C-segment cars like the Honda City or Toyota Vios, while the Sentra is in the B segment comparable to the Honda Civic and Toyota Altis.

“It is like setting your own criteria to get the results you want,” he said.  

Localisation ‘drove price down’

A car dealer with decades of industry experience said, however, that critics should also note that the Almera is cheaper than the Vios or City.

This because more of the Almera is assembled locally which, in turn, get discounts on taxes under the government's Industrial Linkages Programme.

“So people should not be just looking for something to criticise. The government is pursuing more localisation, and localisation will develop domestic industry,” said the dealer who declined to be named for fear that expressing support for the government would create a backlash from opposition supporters.

At media briefing on the National Automotive Policy (NAP), the government had said that the higher specification Almera, sold at RM75,000, is comprable to the discontinued Sentra, which retailed at RM85,777.

The government also said it works with car makers to explore avenues where they can cut prices.

In presenting the chart at the NAP launch on Monday, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said the cars are popular models which make up 30 percent of the market.

With further roll-outs of new cheaper models, he said, about half of the new buyers will be able to purchase cars at a lower price.

The NAP, which allows foreign manufacturers permits to build energy-efficient cars in Malaysia and provides “customised” incentives for such investors, is a framework to encourage lower prices, he said.

However, he stressed that Malaysia is not a socialist state and that retail car prices will have to be determined by market forces and not by the government.