PETALING JAYA: Sime Darby Bhd aspires to play a leading role in Malaysia’s push towards low-carbon mobility with a suite of products and services, and capabilities across the automotive value chain to support the country’s electric vehicle (EV) plans.

       Sime Darby group CEO Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson said the group’s focus on EV was in line with its commitment towards “Delivering Sustainable Futures”.

       “Moving forward, our portfolio will feature a balance of both internal combustion engine models and EV models, to position us for the future.

       “In line with our Sustainability Blueprint, which has been developed as an overarching framework to drive our sustainability efforts, we target to have a more energy-efficient product portfolio by 2025,” he said in a statement.

       The group said its regional EV ambitions is bolstered by an expanding EV line-up, complemented by partnerships with new EV brands such as Nio, Weltmeister and Li Auto.

       It added that its stronghold in China, the world’s largest and most sophisticated EV market, provided the group with unrivalled insight into the fast-evolving EV industry; learnings which could be adapted to support the development of a robust EV ecosystem in Malaysia.

       Meanwhile, Sime Darby’s wholly-owned subsidiary Sime Darby Holdings Bhd had entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Ecoride Sdn Bhd with the support of the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corp, an agency of Environment and Water Ministry.