Latest Report, Volkswagen Reportedly Will Make Malaysia An Export Center

JAKARTA - Volkswagen is rumored to be making Malaysia the center of export for the brand, which was disclosed directly by the Minister of Trade and International Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul.

Citing from the Topgear PH page, Tuesday, May 14, in a post on social media X, the MITI minister said that he had held a meeting with Malaysia's Volkswagen Group (VGM) executives, discussing the company's plans to turn Malaysia into an export hub.

In his post, he said that apart from conventional models, the company also plans to produce EV vehicles in Malaysia, although no details have yet been disclosed regarding which models will be produced or when production will begin.

As is known, currently there are several new Volkswagen models that are assembled in Malaysia, for example, Arteon R-Line, Golf GTI, Tiguan Allspace, and Touareg R-Line which are all made by VGM at the Hicom factory in Pekan, Pahang and will be the first time assembled outside Europe or in Southeast Asia.

Speaking of Volkswagen in Indonesia, it comes under the auspices of PT Garuda Mataram motor (GMM) where the car is still imported intact or Completely Built Up (CBU) from India, one of which is the T-Cross model.

However, VW is reportedly interested in investing in Indonesia to produce electric vehicles, where in 2023 this German brand was based on the statement of the Minister of Investment/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Bahlil Lahadalia, will enter Indonesia through its subsidiary, PowerCo, to build an integrated electric vehicle battery industry. The investment will be used to supply electric battery products to a number of automotive brands under the auspices of the VW Group.

PowerCo itself is a VW subsidiary born in 2022 that runs all Volkswagen Group battery activities, ranging from processing raw materials, developing batteries to managing European gigafactories.

PowerCo is targeted to supply 80 percent of electric battery products to a number of automotive brands under the auspices of Volkswagen Group, including Audi, Skolda, Lamborghini, Porsche, Bentley and Ducati.

In addition, it is reported that there will be a new prospective European investor who will invest in Indonesia, as revealed by the Director General of Metal, Machinery, Transportation Equipment and Electronics Industry of the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin), Taufik Bawazier. However, he did not specify what brand to invest in building factories, and it is predicted that Volkswagen will be the main candidate.