The Naza group of companies is still negotiating with General Motors Corp (GM) on the possibility of setting up an assembly plant in Malaysia and making the country the regional hub for selected Chevrolet models.

"Our intention is there but the discussions are still at the preliminary stage," said Naza joint group executive chairman and group chief executive Datuk Faisal Nasimuddin. He said the growth of the motor vehicle market was in the Asian region and that Malaysia was an important player for retail or export of right-hand drive cars.

"We are talking to GM to produce one or two models for the right-hand drive market. They are outsourcing their manufacturing nowadays and they are rationalising a lot of their plants," he told a press conference after the signing of an agreement between its unit and AmBank Group. Datuk Faisal Nasimuddin (right) and AmBank managing director (retail banking) Datuk Mohamed Azmi Mahmood

He said both parties were looking at the possibility of offering selected completely-knocked-down (CKD) Chevrolet models in Malaysia. "GM intends to turn Malaysia into its regional hub for certain products and definitely we need to have facilities to support such a plan. We are exploring how to capitalise on each other's capability and strength," Faisal said.

He said Naza was looking to sell 35,000 to 40,000 Chevrolet cars annually in the next three to five years and a CKD assembly plant was essential to achieve such a volume. "To achieve such target, we have to finalise everything within the next 12 to 24 months," he said, adding that the company was targeting to make Chevrolet the top four brand in the non-national-car segment by 2013.

Yesterday, AmBank signed a memorandum of understanding with Naza Quest Sdn Bhd to become the official capital financing provider for Chevrolet dealers in Malaysia. The programme comprises capital expenditure and working capital financing for authorised Chevrolet dealers.

AmBank has allocated an initial RM50mil for the programme. Naza Quest, the sole distributor of Chevrolet cars in Malaysia is an associate company of Naza Motor Trading Sdn Bhd, which is part of the Naza group.

Naza Quest chief operating officer Datuk Maruan Mohd Said said the company planned to increase the Chevrolet dealer network to about 21 from 11 now, adding that it planned to increase the network to 40 by 2013. Naza, which currently has about 6% share of the local passenger car market, aims to increase it to 8% by year-end.