e.MAS is coming! Malaysians finally can drive their own country's electric car!

On June 12, Proton launched Malaysia's first domestically produced electric vehicle brand e.MAS in Kuala Lumpur. The name is an abbreviation for "Electrified Malaysia". It is reported that the first batch of cars of the new brand is expected to go offline in the fourth quarter of 2025 and a Proton e.MAS electric vehicle will be launched in December this year. The new brand has commissioned 17 dealers in Malaysia and the sales and service network will gradually expand to escort sales.

It is reported that these cars will be produced in Proton's existing factory in Perak, north of the capital, which has been transformed into an electric vehicle center under Geely's investment of 10 billion US dollars. The new car will be built on the new GMA modular platform, which is compatible with the use of pure petrol, hybrid and electric vehicles. Li Chunrong, Proton's CEO, said that Proton must change to remain competitive, and every major economy is replacing internal combustion engine cars with electric vehicle technology.

On June 23, 2017, Geely held a signing ceremony for the completion of the acquisition of Proton. It was held 49.9% of Proton's shares, and the remaining shares was held by Malaysian partner DRB-Hicom Bhd. The 0.1% equity given up means the surrender of corporate control, showing Geely's sincerity in merger and cooperation. Since then, the help to Proton has not disappointed Geely. Proton's sales have increased year by year since 2018, from 64,744 units in 2018 to 154,611 units in 2023, an increase of more than 138%. It is worth noting that Proton could only sell 72,000 cars in the year before being acquired by Geely, with an annual loss of 838 million RMB.

GEELY's own attempts at electric vehicles are ongoing, and it is adept at facilitating cooperation with multinational companies. It has previously partnered with Benz to launch the electric vehicle brand smart. However, the Smart brand is positioned at the higher end and the price is not friendly. At a time when GEELY lacks cost-effective models in Malaysia, the emergence of e.MAS may fill this market gap, and Proton may also become a linchpin for GEELY's development in the Southeast Asian market. Proton's strategic senior director Yusri Yusuf said that e.MAS will offer competitive prices for all Malaysians, but there's currently no news about the brand's pricing. And the cheapest electric vehicle in Malaysia is currently the BYD dolphin, which starts at RM99,900.

Not only is the proton's e.MAS from the GEELY family coming to Malaysia, but also the recently listed ZEEKR in the United States. On June 8, ZEEKR officially announced its simultaneous entry into the Indonesian and Malaysian markets, and signed cooperation agreements with PT Premium Auto Prima and Sentinel Automotive Sdn.Bhd. respectively. It is known that the right-hand drive versions of the ZEEKR X and ZEEKR 009 are being introduced into Malaysia and Indonesia.

Malaysia supports the entire electric vehicle industry, although the current development is still rather slow. The Malaysian government hopes that by 2030, electric vehicles can account for 15% of total sales to help achieve the net zero emissions target by 2050. By 2023, the country's electric vehicle sales will more than double, and the number will increase from 2,631 in 2022 to 10,159. However, this growth is from a low base, it is expected that electric vehicle sales this year will account for only 2% of total sales, which is still some way off the 15% target.