KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 17): Automotive-related counters were down on Tuesday morning, in light of possibility of a move by the Malaysian government to reduce or abolish Open approved permit (AP) levy for reconditioned luxury car importers.

At 10.22am, Toyota vehicle distributor UMW Holdings Bhd’s shares lost 0.22% or 1 sen to RM4.60. 

Shares of Tan Chong Motor Holdings Bhd, the franchise holder of Nissan vehicles, was down 0.56% or 1 sen at RM1.77, while DRB-HICOM Bhd slid 1.67% or 2 sen to RM1.18.

On the other hand, shares of Bermaz Auto Bhd’s share price, distributor of Mazda cars, rose 0.49% or 1 sen at RM2.05.

To recap, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was quoted by Bernama on Saturday as saying the government had agreed to review measures to ease the burden of companies regarding Open APs, especially on the RM10,000 levy.

An analyst was quoted by The Edge Financial Daily today as saying the move does not present a level playing field for luxury carmakers, and proposed “removing the AP programme altogether, in the spirit of true free trade”.

However, BMW Malaysia and Mercedes-Benz Malaysia reportedly welcomed the move, which representatives said would benefit the local automotive industry.

BMW Malaysia recorded a sixth consecutive year of sales record in 2016, up 16% to 10,906 units, from 9,368 units in 2015.

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia’s sales volume rose 8.6% to an all-time high of 11,779 vehicles in 2016, from 10,845 units a year earlier.