Chinese EV manufacturer BYD has confirmed it will not proceed with its planned local assembly plant in Tanjong Malim, Malaysia.
Coming to a halt
In August 2025, BYD announced plans to establish a local completely knocked down (CKD) vehicle assembly plant in Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) Tech Park in Tanjung Malim, Perak. The planned facility was reported as BYD’s fourth vehicle plant in Southeast Asia.
Early plans disclosed that the facility would be 600,000 square meters. BYD was able to secure the project through its collaboration with the Perak state government on the Muallim Speed-Lane (M-SL): Fast-Track Construction Project.
BYD began plans for the project as early as 2023. Its initial announcement stated that production was to begin in 2026. In September 2026, Malaysian publication AutoBuzz reported that BYD paused the project in the wake of the government announcing new requirements for imports of completely built-up (CBU) EVs.
The revised CBU EV import policy, which took effect on 1 July 2026, stated that CBU EV imports under the franchise Approved Permit scheme must meet the following requirements:
- Minimum cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value of RM200,000
- Minimum power output of 180 kW
The company said that it would make another announcement regarding the plant’s future the following week. A week later, the anticipated announcement revealed that BYD would no longer pursue the plant entirely.
Partnering up
During the launch of the BYD Atto 3 Performance in Malaysia, Managing Director Jacob Ma announced that the company will still pursue local assembly but with a partner.
“To clear the air on this, the Tanjong Malim facility will not proceed. However, this decision does not mean that BYD has cancelled its plans for local assembly in Malaysia. Our commitment to local assembly remains,” he said.
“We are working with an established local assembly partner that has the capacity and the capabilities to meet BYD’s requirements and can support our full local assembly operations. Discussions are already at a very advanced stage, and we are finishing the necessary documentation, and we will make an official announcement once everything is in place,” Ma added, though he did not identify the local partner.
Prior to this, Malaysia’s Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) said in August that it had not received formal notification on whether BYD would proceed with the investment.
“Any decision to proceed with, defer or revise its investment plans is a commercial decision for the company,” said MITI Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.
PaulTan reported that BYD’s vice president and general manager of auto sales in the Asia Pacific region visited local company Sime Motors’ facility in Kulim, Kedah. The same article revealed that executives from Sime Motors visited BYD at its Shenzhen office in September to discuss “strategic priorities and areas of mutual interest.”
BYD has not formally identified its local assembly partner.
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