Guan Eng refutes MOF: Harapan never approved Vellfire switch

Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng stressed that the Pakatan Harapan government, which was in power from 2018 to 2020, had never approved a switch from Proton Perdana to Toyota Vellfire as the official vehicle for ministers.

Apart from cost consideration, Lim said the principle was to support local vehicles.

“The Harapan government never approved nor did it announce a switch of ministerial official cars from the Proton Perdana 2.4 Premium to Toyota Vellfire 2.5L.

“This contradicts the Finance Ministry’s recent statement that the proposal to replace the Proton Perdana with other vehicles such as the Vellfire was considered by the previous government but was postponed and only implemented this year,” Lim said in a statement.

In Jan 2020, Lim, who was the finance minister at the time, had said that the government had wanted to stick with Proton Perdana but the firm supplying vehicles to the government did not have them as production stopped in 2014.

As such, Toyota Vellfire was offered as an alternative. However, Lim announced at the time that the government ultimately decided to continue using Proton Perdana.

Lim, in his statement today, described the government’s use of Toyota Vellfire as “luxurious”.

“In line with the principle of prudent spending, the ministers during Harapan’s time used Proton Perdana, not Toyota Vellfire which are more luxurious,” he said.

The Finance Ministry had said the lease on the Vellfire at RM4,851.61 was cheaper than Proton Perdana at RM,4854.41, an RM2.80 saving per vehicle.

“The proposal to replace Proton Perdana with other vehicles such as the Vellfire was considered under the previous government but was postponed and was only implemented this year,” it had said.

It added that six years had passed even though ministerial vehicles were meant to be changed every four years.

The switch was made in April 2021, when Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin was the prime minister.

He was replaced by Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob in August 2021, who largely retained the PN cabinet.

Lim noted that the Malaysian Car Rental Association had said the Finance Ministry's justification that the Vellfire was cheaper “did not make sense”.

Lim, who is also DAP’s Bagan MP, questioned if the government had considered other local options.

“Were cheaper brands that matched the equipment of the Proton Perdana 2.4 Premium considered apart from prioritising Malaysian-made vehicles?

“In the interest of accountability and transparency, the Finance Ministry should inform the public whether an open tender was conducted and which company is managing the car leases for the federal government,” he said. - Mkini