UMW Toyota Motor Sdn. Bhd. (UMWT) is the appointed Toyota distributor, assembler and exporter of Toyota vehicles in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. The company was founded in October 1982 as Sejati Motor, prior to being renamed UMW Toyota Motor in October 1987. UMW Toyota Motor is a ''51:39:10'' joint venture between Malaysia-based United Motor Works (UMW), and the

Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

and

Toyota Tsusho Corporation is a sōgō shōsha (trading company), a member of the Toyota Group. Toyota Tsusho has a worldwide presence through its many subsidiaries and operating divisions, including over 150 offices, and 900 subsidiaries and affiliates around the world. ...

of Japan. UMWT wholly owns Assembly Services Sdn. Bhd. (ASSB), the exclusive assembler of Toyota passenger and commercial vehicles in Malaysia. UMW Toyota Motor has also been the official distributor of

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese ...

vehicles in Malaysia since 2006.

History

1960s

Toyota vehicles were first imported into Malaysia in August 1956, with the first unit being a Land Cruiser. Toyota signed distributor agreements with various Malaysian partners prior to UMW Toyota Motor, namely Asia Motor (1956–1960), Kah Motor (September 1960–February 1974), Borneo Motors (September 1967–September 1982), Sarin Motor (January 1979–February 1983) and Emastorin Motor (September 1979–April 1984). Additionally, two Malaysian plants were appointed as assemblers of Toyota's complete knock down (CKD) kits, namely Champion Motors / Assembly Services and Sarawak Motor Industries. Prior to 1968, Malaysian market Toyota models were only imported as complete built up (CBU) units. In the 1960s, the Malaysian government began to emphasise industrialisation, then viewed as a more dependable economic sector for employment and economic growth. In May 1964, the Malaysian government enacted a policy to encourage the local assembly of vehicles and manufacturing of automotive components, as per the recommendation of experts from the

Colombo Plan The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri L ...

. The new policy made complete built up (CBU) cars more expensive through the addition of import duties, and licenses were issued to various car companies who were interested in setting up local assembly plants. Cars that were locally assembled with Malaysian manufactured components, then limited to low-value parts like tyres, lights and batteries would be granted a reduction in import duty, making them cheaper and more competitive as a result.

1970s

In the 1970s, Malaysia experienced an

economic boom An economic expansion is an increase in the level of economic activity, and of the goods and services available. It is a period of economic growth as measured by a rise in real GDP. The explanation of fluctuations in aggregate economic activity ...

as a result of increased industrialisation. Japanese companies heavily invested in Malaysia during this period, and Toyota was one of several Japanese firms which contributed to the development of Malaysia's automotive industry. Local assembly of the

Toyota Corolla (E10) The Corolla E10 was the first generation of cars sold by Toyota under the Corolla name. The Corolla was launched in Japan in November 1966 at a Japanese dealership sales channel called ''Toyota Corolla Store''. Eiji Toyoda said it took hard w ...

and Toyota Corona (T40) commenced in February 1968 at the Champion Motors (CM) plant in

Shah Alam Shah Alam () is a city and the state capital of Selangor, Malaysia and situated within the Petaling District and a small portion of the neighbouring Klang District. Shah Alam replaced Kuala Lumpur as the capital city of the state of Selangor in ...

. Toyota exported complete knock down (CKD) kits from Japan to Malaysia, where they were assembled by Champion Motors. However, Toyota had no equity stake in Champion Motors, which was established by Motor Investments (MIB), a subsidiary of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-based

Inchcape Inchcape or the Bell Rock is a reef about off the east coast of Angus, Scotland, near Dundee and Fife, occupied by the Bell Rock Lighthouse. The name ''Inchcape'' comes from the Scottish Gaelic ''Innis Sgeap'', meaning "Beehive isle", probab ...

. In addition to Toyota models, Champion Motors had also assembled

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

and

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

models. Champion Motors was renamed Assembly Services Sdn. Bhd. (ASSB) in April 1975. Over the course of the 1970s, Assembly Services benefited from significant technology transfer from Toyota. Production engineers from Toyota contributed to the design of ASSB's plant and advised on the assembly of vehicles. The Malaysian public, traditionally accustomed to European cars up until the 1960s were initially sceptical of the new Japanese cars. However, by the mid-1970s, the Toyota Corolla had grown rapidly in popularity to become a best-seller in the Malaysian market, second only to the

Datsun 120Y The is an automobile built by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1966 to 2006. In the early 1980s, the brand changed from Datsun to Nissan in line with other models by the company. Although production of the Sunny in Japan ended in 2006, the na ...

. The success of the Corolla was largely attributed to its admirable reliability,

fuel efficiency Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, wh ...

and value for money appeal, elements which many of its European counterparts could not match. The partnership between ASSB and Toyota strengthened over the course of the 1970s, and Toyota vehicles regularly accounted for the bulk of ASSB's production volume.

1980s–present

In March 1980, Toyota set up a representative office in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, and in October 1982, Sejati Motor was established through a joint venture between the Toyota Motor Corporation and United Motor Works (UMW). Sejati Motor acquired the Assembly Services plant and Borneo Motors network from Inchcape, and in October 1987, Sejati Motor was renamed UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT). ASSB remained a subsidiary of UMWT ever since, as the exclusive assembler of Toyota vehicles in Malaysia. However, UMWT's plans for expansion in the Malaysian market were drafted just prior to the advent of

Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...

and the mid-1980s economic crisis, both of which had severe implications on UMWT's business model. Nonetheless, UMWT adapted to the market changes by pushing the Toyota brand upmarket, with an emphasis on aftersales and customer satisfaction. Toyota eventually surpassed arch-rival Nissan to become the best-selling foreign-badged car company in the Malaysian market, a title which UMWT held for over 20 years. However, in 2014, UMWT lost their coveted title to Honda Malaysia. In 2006, UMW Toyota Motor was awarded the franchise rights to distribute

vehicles in Malaysia. Cumulative Toyota vehicle production in Malaysia reached 1 million units in 2011. As of late 2017, UMW Toyota officially distributes a total of twelve Toyota models, six of which are assembled by ASSB, while all Lexus models are fully imported. Another manufacturing plant at Bukit Raja, Klang rolled out its first car on 10 January 2019 which was a Toyota Vios. This plant will operate alongside the existing plant at Shah Alam and during its initial face can have an annual output of 50,000 vehicles. The Yaris is also manufactured in this plant and boosts a 70% local content count.

Assembly Services (ASSB) production

File:2021 Toyota Vios GR-S (Malaysia) front view 02.png,

Toyota Vios (XP150) The Toyota Vios is a nameplate used for subcompact cars produced by the Japanese manufacturer Toyota, primarily for markets in Southeast Asia, China and Taiwan since 2002. Slotted below the compact Corolla, the Vios serves as the replacement ...

File:2021 Toyota Yaris GR Sport (Indonesia) front view.jpg,

Toyota Yaris (XP150) The XP150 series Toyota Yaris is a subcompact car produced and sold by Toyota under the Yaris nameplate since 2013. Marketed exclusively for emerging markets, it is the hatchback counterpart of the XP150 series Vios subcompact sedan, which i ...

File:2021 Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid SEG (Colombia) front view 01.png, Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid (XG10) File:2021 Toyota Kijang Innova 2.0 G (Indonesia) front view 01.jpg,

Toyota Innova (AN140) The Toyota Innova is a car manufactured by the Japanese carmaker Toyota since 2004. It is a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) or minivan and mainly sold with three-row seating. Its official name in Indonesia is Toyota Kijang Innova, while for other c ...

File:Toyota Fortuner 4x4 LTD 2-Tone White Pearl-Black (cropped).jpg,

Toyota Fortuner (AN160) The Toyota Fortuner, also known as the Toyota SW4, is a mid-size SUV manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota since 2004. Built on the Hilux pickup truck platform, it features two/three rows of seats and is available in either rear-wheel d ...

File:2021 Toyota HiLux IMG 3883.jpg,

Toyota HiLux (AN130) The , stylized as HiLux and historically as Hi-Lux, is a series of pickup trucks produced and marketed by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The majority of these vehicles are sold as pickup truck or cab chassis variants, although the ...

File:2017 Toyota HiAce (TRH201R) LWB van (2018-10-01) 01.jpg,

Toyota HiAce (H200) The (pronounced "High Ace") is a light commercial vehicle produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. First launched in October 1967, the HiAce has since been available in a wide range of body configurations, including a minivan/ ...

References

External links

Toyota Malaysia

UMW Malaysia
{{Toyota Motor Corporation Auto dealerships Toyota