Incentives and green agenda to drive EV market

PETALING JAYA: The future of the electric vehicle (EV) market in the country looks promising as structural incentives and increasing sustainability awareness provide support for long-term electrification, according to BIMB Securities Research.

But underinvestment in distribution infrastructure would cause structural bottleneck, it said.

The absence of proactive upgrades in sub-stations and feeder lines, particularly in high-density urban and legacy residential areas will constrain home-charging scalability.

Until grid resilience improves materially, EV uptake may remain biased towards landed homes or public charging networks, delaying broader adoption.

In this context, the research house said there were selective upside for contractors exposed to grid enhancement projects and power distribution assets. It remained cautious on EV original equipment manufacturers and charging infrastructure players with concentrated exposure to the residential segment.

It retained its “neutral” stance on both the automotive sector and EV adoption.

It maintained “hold” calls for Sime Darby Bhd and MBM Resources Bhd, while reiterating “sell” call on Bermaz Auto Bhd (BAuto).

Its target price for Sime Darby is at RM1.76, MBM Resources at RM4.30 and BAuto at 65 sen a share respectively.

Despite offering EV models across the board, it continued to favour Sime Darby for its balanced exposure, anchored by strong EV traction from BYD and BMW, and resilient internal combustion engine volumes via Perodua.

The diversified product mix would enable Sime Darby to ride both ends of the adoption curve and support earnings stability as the market transitions.

In contrast, BAuto’s narrower model range and higher premium bias limited its relative defensiveness in a more price-sensitive and infrastructure-constrained EV landscape, said the research house.

To ensure that EV adoption could scale sustainably, Malaysia must undertake several key actions, it said. A comprehensive mapping and stress-testing exercise should be conducted to identify weak sub-stations and prioritise them for upgrades.

Public-private funding mechanisms should be mobilised, particularly involving government-linked companies and institutional investors, to finance grid modernisation efforts.