SAIC puts in RM 1 billion in deal with Weststar Maxus, MG may return

Kuala Lumpur: An indegenous distributor Weststar Maxus Sdn Bhd and Chinese automotive assembly SAIC Motor Corp Ltd have signed a deal of assembly and distribution worth around RM 1 billion which is speculated to bring around the return of MG in Malaysia, reported The Star.

This daily reported that SAIC is planning on taking 49% stake in Weststar Maxus and henceforth will be providing its distribution right to a variety of drives, which includes MG cars, pick-ups and passenger vans. This will help SAIC to add more vehicles its Maxus brand of commercial drives which is already sold by Weststar. Additionally, SAIC is also set to join hands with Weststar Maxus in order to set up an assembly plant in Malaysia.

This deal is hardly a surprise as South East Asia has been the target of SAIC for a longtime now, the car has been manufacturing MGs in Thai market for an year now (MG6, addition of MG3 hatch was done earlier in 2015), also the company has singed up a deal to set its base plant in Indonesia too.

Tan Sri Syed Azman Syden Ibrahim a.k.a “AP King” currently owns entire Weststar and preciously held AP (franchise approved permits) for giants like Honda and Chevrolet. In April 2013, Federal Auto (Dealer of Volvo) and SAIC had signed a MoU (Memorandum of understanding) as a step forward in lieu of reviving MG in Malaysia. Recent deal with Weststar now indicates that since then, this agreement has fallen.