KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 17): Sime Darby Bhd expects electric vehicle (EV) sales to increase from the current 3,000 units sold as at June 30, 2022, which contributed a mere 4.5% of its motor division revenue, according to Sime Darby Motors managing director Andrew Basham.
"The organisations we are working with are trying to ramp up the production of the EV cars, so we will see the selling number of the EV cars increase in the next financial year, especially in Hong Kong”, said Basham, without disclosing any forecasts.
He said about half of all cars sold in the global market will be EVs by 2030.
"This will take a long time because of lack of capacity such as batteries and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). In European markets in particular, they expect more than half of their motor division's sales to come from EVs by 2030.
"I suspect that in our region, as well as in China, at least half of the sales will come from EVs by 2030. That's just my guess," Basham said at Sime Darby's 4QFY22 financial results presentation on Wednesday (Aug 17).
The group has been divesting non-core assets as part of its rationalisation exercise, while focusing on its core businesses — motor and industrial segments.
Two "engines" are expected to drive Sime Darby's performance. Engine One — its existing motors business — and Engine Two, its future-focused strategies to capitalise on new mobility trends, including EVs.
Sime Darby's share price closed two sen or 0.87% higher to RM2.32 on Wednesday, valuing the conglomerate at RM15.8 billion. Sime Darby stock is currently trading at a historical price-to-earnings ratio of 15.24 times, offering a dividend yield of 5.17%.