Market Price

'Let me pay market price for cars too'

Jun 5, 08 10:46am
On Fuel hike: 78 sen more to RM2.70 per litre

Kenny Gan: I don't mind paying market price for petrol provided I can pay market price for cars. Currently, our cars are anything but ‘market price’. We have one of the highest car prices in the world due to our abnormally high import duties on foreign cars.

I'm not talking about luxury cars either, half of what we pay for a basic family cars goes to tax. The tax component of a car will pay for the extra cost of unsubsidised petrol for the life of the car!

In a country where public transport is abysmal and most people have no practical choice but to own cars, middle-class families are being pushed to the wall. Subsidised petrol helps to offset the high installments car owners have to fork out monthly to pay for their overtaxed cars.

Many owners have to take a nine-year loan just to pay off a basic car. On top of that tolls are a heavy burden to motorists and threaten to keep going up due to one sided deals signed with toll concessionaires.

The government can do nothing about the world price of crude oil but high car prices and high tolls are definitely self-inflicted. Lack of investment in public transport rubs it in. Is this lack of urgency to improve our public transport designed to help Proton sell more cars?

The government has forced the public to own cars by mismanaging the public transport sector, inflicted a high prices for cars, burdened the motorists with extensive toll roads and now wants market price for petrol. Is this a caring government?

Tan, Joseph K: If the government would like to make fuel price as per the market price, firstly, it needs to reduce import taxes and excise duties for all passenger car to comply with the Japan- Malaysia FTA. At least, Malaysia can...

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