Malaysian car retailer and hotel operator Naza Group will launch on Saturday a locally developed passenger car that it intends to export, Reuters reported, citing the New Straits Times newspaper.
The paper reportedly said on Friday that Naza, which sells vehicles including Kias, plans to assemble and sell 30,000 of its new car each year, with 10,000 earmarked for export.
According to the report, Naza is assembling the car at a 1.2-billion-ringgit ($US328m) plant in central Pahang state where prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is to attend a ground-breaking ceremony.
Developed and styled by Naza in collaboration with Italian, British and South Korean designers, the car, in production from 2007, is to be priced at around 35,000 to 40,000 ringgit, Reuters added.
The report said that Naza, which has said it plans to list this year, aims to launch a second new car next month, “fashioned after” the Peugeot 206, and plans annual production of 10,000 units of this model, with about 3,000 being exported in the first year.

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By GlobalDataThe New Straits Times said the launch will make Naza the only privately owned developer of a local car for export – national car makers Proton and Perodua both have government assistance.