Our BM colleague and Tanjong Malim resident Farid Awaludin strikes again, this time with photos of several units of the Proton eMas 5 leaving the national carmaker’s factory. Except that these cars were no ordinary eMas 5s, as they were carrying Geely EX2 badging.
At this point you’re probably wondering what the big deal of this is – after all, Proton exports plenty of Geely-badged vehicles nowadays, and they’re actually very proud of it. However, the company’s current exports, such as the S70 (Emgrand), X50 (Coolray) and X90 (Okavango), are built at its longstanding factory with body stamping and painting facilities.
The eMas 5, meanwhile, is assembled in a newer dedicated EV plant that, last we checked, did not have these facilities. Even though its electric motor is now put together in Tanjong Malim, its total local content is still likely below the 40% threshold required for preferential ASEAN tariffs, meaning that it would be taxed like a foreign vehicle.
