page_title: Automotive industry in Malaysia
section_title: HICOM Automotive Manufacturers (Malaysia)
hierarchical_section_title: Automotive industry in Malaysia / Automobile production plants in Malaysia / HICOM Automotive Manufacturers (Malaysia)
caption_attribution_description: Front quarter view of a first generation Naza Ria (essentially a rebadged Kia Carnival/Sedona) in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
context_page_description: The automotive industry in Malaysia consists of 27 vehicle producers and over 640 component manufacturers. The Malaysian automotive industry is the third largest in Southeast Asia, and the 23rd largest in the world, with an annual production output of over 500,000 vehicles. The automotive industry contributes 4% or RM 40 billion to Malaysia's GDP, and employs a workforce of over 700,000 throughout a nationwide ecosystem.
  The automotive industry in Malaysia traces its origins back to the British colonial era. Ford Malaya became the first automobile assembly plant in Southeast Asia upon its establishment in Singapore in 1926. The automotive industry in post-independence Malaysia was established in 1967 to spur national industrialisation. The government offered initiatives to encourage the local assembly of vehicles and manufacturing of automobile components. In 1983, the government became directly involved in the automotive industry through the establishment of national car company Proton, followed by Perodua in 1993.
context_section_description: HICOM Automotive Manufacturers (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (HA) currently operates two main assembly plants in Pekan, which collectively encompass several smaller sub-plants and facilities. HA is part of the DRB-HICOM Pekan automotive complex, which is among the nation's largest automobile production hubs. The entire automotive complex is divided by a section of the Federal Route 3 highway, which separates HA Plant 1 to the West, from HA Plant 2 to the East. Plant 1 hosts the Volkswagen Pekan Plant (VPP), which produces Volkswagen passenger vehicles, and the Suzuki Malaysia Automobile plant, which is currently idle. Plant 2 hosts the Mercedes-Benz Malaysia (MBM) plant, which produces Mercedes-Benz passenger and commercial vehicles, in addition to Mitsubishi Fuso commercial vehicles. All three sub-plants assemble vehicles from imported knock down kits. Additionally, the DRB-HICOM Defence Technologies (DefTech) facility and Isuzu HICOM Malaysia (IHM) plant are both located in close proximity to Plant 1 and 2. DefTech and IHM are not part of HICOM Automotive Manufacturers (Malaysia), but DefTech is nonetheless a subsidiary of DRB-HICOM, while IHM is a 51:49 joint venture between Isuzu and HICOM. The Pekan automotive complex has produced a diverse variety of vehicles over the course of its history, with models from over 20 different car companies, both domestic and foreign badged.
  HICOM Automotive Manufacturers (Malaysia) traces its origins to the mid 1970s, when the TATAB Industries Assembly Plant (TIAP) was established under a 70:30 joint venture between Pahang-based TAB group and Tata of India. The development of the TIAP plant was partially funded by the Pahang royal family, and upon its completion in 1976, it became the first automobile assembly plant in the East Coast region. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, TIAP produced Tata commercial vehicles, but in 1983, the Master Carriage group, an affiliate company of Diversified Resources Berhad (DRB) bought the TIAP facility, and renamed it Automotive Manufacturers (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (AMM). Over the course of the mid 1980s and early 1990s, the AMM plant would take on contract assembly for Isuzu, Suzuki and Mitsubishi commercial vehicles, as well as Citroën passenger vehicles.
  By late 1994, the AMM complex had grown to accommodate 8 separate assembly lines. In July 1995, AMM commenced operations at a second assembly plant, AMM 2, on the eastern bank of the Federal Route 3 highway at the Peramu Jaya industrial estate. AMM 2 was tasked with the assembly of commercial vehicles exclusively, while the original plant on the western bank, AMM 1, would specialise in passenger car assembly. The combined annual production capacity of the AMM complex stood at around 80,000 units in late 1995.
  In the mid 1990s, AMM became one of two plants to participate in the National Commercial Vehicle (NCV) project, when HICOM Commercial Vehicles was established in January 1994 under a 40:40:20 joint venture between DRB, HICOM and Isuzu. By 1996, HICOM Commercial Vehicles had been renamed Malaysian Truck & Bus (MTB), while DRB and HICOM had merged. MTB had acquired the AMM 2 plant for the NCV project, and plans for a HICOM-badged, Isuzu-based, AMM-built truck were unveiled. In July 1997, the HICOM Perkasa was launched as the first product from the MTB joint venture. The Perkasa is based on the fifth-generation Isuzu Elf, and it was produced in both narrow-cab, short wheelbase and wide-cab, long wheelbase configurations. Isuzu vehicles have also formed the basis for other HICOM-badged vehicles, most notably the DefTech-built HICOM Handalan series. In 2007, Isuzu acquired a 51% majority stake in MTB, and the company was subsequently renamed Isuzu HICOM Malaysia.
  Aside from the joint venture with Isuzu, AMM had also hosted a second concurrent partnership with national car company Proton. In June 1994, Usahasama Proton-DRB (USPD) was established under 51:30:19 joint venture between DRB, Proton and Erat Bakti. USPD was established to market niche or non-mainstream Proton models, as a complement to HICOM-dire
caption: AMM briefly produced Kia and Naza models under contract.
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