Penang chief minister Chow Kon Yeow has justified the state government’s recent RM3.31 million purchase of 15 XV80 Toyota Camry 2.5V sedans for use by the administration, the New Straits Times reports.
He said the ninth-gen Camry vehicles were acquired to reduce maintenance costs, because it was widely recognised that vehicles older than five years with high mileage could pose safety concerns and cost more to maintain. “The state replaces official vehicles every six years to reduce the rising cost of maintenance,” he said during his winding-up speech at the state legislative assembly earlier today.
He said the previous batch of 15 eight-gen Camry 2.5Vs was purchased in 2019, and that the practice of replacing official vehicles every six years began in 2013, when the state government purchased 15 units of the seventh-gen XV50 Camry to replace the previous fleet of Mercedes-Benz and Proton Perdana cars.
Chow said that maintenance costs for the outgoing Camry fleet had risen significantly. “On average, maintenance for each vehicle assigned to exco members and officers has reached RM42,144 due to wear-and-tear repairs. In total, the state has spent nearly RM650,000 on maintaining these vehicles,” he explained.
Despite this, the older Camry fleet has been retained. “The previous vehicles are still in use, kept in a pool for officers as needed,” he said. However, Chow said that even with the pooled cars, there were still not enough vehicles to meet demand.
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