KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Motors Malaysia (SDM), one of Malaysia's leading automotive players, has today inked a distribution agreement with BYD, the world's leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles.
This marks the entry of BYD's electric vehicles (EV) for the Malaysian passenger car market, with SDM as the distributor.
SDM and BYD formalised the partnership at a signing ceremony between Jeffrey Gan, managing director of retail and distribution of SDM, and Eagle Zhao, managing director of BYD Malaysia Sdn Bhd and PT BYD Motor Indonesia.
Held at Sime Darby Motors City in Ara Damansara here, the ceremony was witnessed by SDM managing director Andrew Basham and Liu Xueliang, general manager of BYD Asia Pacific Auto Sales Division.
The agreement will entail SDM distributing BYD's ATTO 3 and new e6 models.
"In line with our commitment to encourage EV adoption amongst Malaysians, we are pleased to welcome BYD to our stable of world-class brands, enabling us to continue growing our EV pipeline of models," Basham said.
"BYD is the world's leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles and this partnership will bring BYD's expertise to the Malaysian market through a wide range of EV models."
He added that the collaboration with BYD was one of the steps SDM was taking towards becoming a leader in EV.
'This is also aligned with the Malaysian government's push towards low carbon mobility," Basham said.
Liu Xueliang said Malaysia wss a key market for BYD's expansion, as there were vast opportunities for the EV ecosystem to grow and evolve.
"Given its proven track record and well-established presence in the automotive sector in the Asia Pacific region, we look forward to partnering with Sime Darby Motors to serve Malaysia's growing EV demand," he added.