HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT IN MALAYSIA AS AT AUGUST 2011

The National Franchise Development Blueprint to be released


KUALA LUMPUR: The National Franchise Development Blueprint to make the local franchise industry more vibrant is expected to be launched by the end of the year.

The government is in the midst of finalising the incentives that will be included in the blueprint.

The blueprint, which has been proposed by the Malaysia Franchise Association (MFA) since 2003, will provide the objective and direction for the franchise industry players in the country.

The Franchise International Malaysia 2011 (FIM 2011), which was launched by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday, was supposed to be the launchpad for the blueprint.

"We are still finalising the incentives. Hopefully we can announce it before end of the year," Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism (KPNDKK) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said after the launch of FIM 2011.
Also present to grace the launch was MFA chairman Abdul Malik Abdullah.
Ismail Sabri said the revamp of Franchise Act 1998 will be tabled at the Parliament by next week.

The amendment will see the requirement for franchisees to register their businesses and submit annual reports to the Registrar of Franchise. Currently, only franchisors are obligated to register their franchisees.
"With a blueprint in place, it will also encourage local businesses to expand overseas," Ismail Sabri said.

The blueprint was initiated to leapfrog local franchise industry to the next stage, in line with the government's aim to create an innovative economy and turn Malaysia into a developed country by 2020.

The blueprint will also benefit franchise players across the board from franchisors, franchisees and consultants to lawyers.
Incentives to be introduced in the blueprint include those for research and development, and innovation and tax breaks.

Under the 10th Malaysia Plan, franchise development has been given a priority to mature the industry, and it is subsequently projected to increase the country's gross domestic product (GDP) contribution by two-fold to 4.3 per cent from 2.2 per cent currently.

By 2020, the aim is also to increase national employment within the franchise industry to 9.4 per cent.

There are currently some 497 franchise systems registered in the country. The MFA is projecting a double-digit growth after the blueprint announcement.

The target will be spurred by conversion from licensing business to adopting the franchise system, co-branding activities, multiple franchise outlets by franchisees and microfranchising activities like those of homegrown corn and ice-cream franchise Nelson and cleaning business HC Duraclean.

FIM 2011 has so far received an overwhelming response as the number of visitors on the first day had already surpassed last year's.

"Three thousand three hundred people visited FIM 2011 today (Friday)," Abdul Malik told Business Times last night. This is far more than about 2,000 visitors on the first day of FIM 2010.

MFA is targeting some 10,000 visitors to this year's event, compared with 8,086 people last year.

"We thank the government for their assistance and support, which has allowed local companies to tap the international market.
"Out of 535 homegrown brands, 36 brands have ventured overseas to more than 49 countries worldwide," he said.

Abdul Malik added that brands like Nelson and Daily Fresh have opened 670 outlets and 477 outlets respectively, outside of Malaysia.

The MFA hopes to achieve some RM345 million in sales during FIM 2011.

The exhibition, which started yesterday, will be on until July 24 at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur.

FIM 2011 boasts of a conference, franchise business opportunity workshops, franchise product demonstrations and Jobs @ Franchise.

There are 110 booths at this year's FIM and participants include food and beverage players like Meatworks, Bangi Kopitiam, Austin Chase and Gloria Jean's; the education sector, namely Smart Readers and Kinderland; and financial institutions that offer dedicated financial packages to franchise entrepreneurs.

FIM is jointly organised by the MFA and KPNDKK to promote and encourage the development of franchise industry and create a platform for the players to promote their brands and develop successful franchisees.

Main sponsors of FIM 2011 are Perbadanan Nasional Bhd, Chicking Fried Chicken, Reliance, Marrybrown, D'Tandoor, House of Healin and Menara Optometry.

Sime Darby Bhd buys 30pc stake of E&O for RM766m

Kuala Lumpur: Sime Darby Bhd, the world's largest listed palm oil producer by acreage, is buying 30 percent of Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) for RM766 million to expand its portfolio in property development and hospitality, beyond Greater Kuala Lumpur.

At RM2.30 per E&O share, the deal is valued at about a 20 percent discount to E&O's estimated realisable net asset value (RNAV) of RM3.2 billion.

But it is also 54 per cent more than E&O's closing price of RM1.49 yesterday.

Prior to the announcement, some E&O shareholders have been raising their stakes in the company.

This month alone, Tan Sri Azman Hashim, GKG Investment Holdings Pte Ltd and Datuk Azizan Abd Rahman bought shares in E&O totalling 5.3 million, 1.25 million and 100,000 shares, respectively.

Late last month, E&O deputy managing director Eric Chan told Business Times that the management was not in any acquisition talks with any parties, when asked if some of the shareholders were about to exit the company.

However, E&O issued a statement on the planned disposal by its major shareholders on Sunday.
It said that managing director Datuk Tham Ka Hon and his associates had entered into a share sale agreement with a wholly-owned unit of Sime Darby to sell 108 million shares or 12.2 per cent of E&O, and 38 million units of irredeemable convertible secured loan stocks (ICSLS).

Upon completion, Tham and his associates will continue to hold 29 million E&O stocks and 27.1 million ICSLS. He will end up with 5.1 per cent of E&O if he converts all of his ICSLS.

Sime Darby said in a statement yesterday that it is buying 273 million E&O shares and 60 million ICSLS.

Its president and group chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Bakke Salleh said the proposed acquisition will provide a springboard for the conglomerate to expand its property development activities and the products it could offer, especially in Penang and Johor.

E&O has several projects and the largest is the 392ha Seri Tanjung Pinang seafront development in Penang. It has pockets of land at Jalan Kia Peng and Jalan Yap Kwan Seng in Kuala Lumpur, 145ha at Gertak Sanggul in Penang, and bungalow lots in Damansara Heights.

Sime Darby said Tham will continue to helm E&O and its management team will remain unchanged.

"This would provide continuity in leadership and will ensure effective corporate succession planning," Mohd Bakke said.

In addition to that, both companies have also entered into a three-year collaboration agreement to formalise a framework for their property development businesses.

Mohd Bakke said the potential opportunities for collaboration include the broadening of technical capabilities in innovation and product design, jointly exploring new market opportunities and developing new product offerings.

"E&O is a distinctive brand in the industry and is synonymous with quality. We strongly believe that through collaboration and cross fertilisation of ideas and expertise, there are significant opportunities for synergies for both parties, thus creating value for our stakeholders," he said.

Car sector(update) to have brighter future

New Myvi and normalisation of Japanese auto parts supply boost sales

PETALING JAYA: The outlook for the automotive sector in Malaysia looks to be much brighter in the second half of the year, after suffering from auto parts supply woes due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March and hiccups in vehicle registrations caused by the amended Hire-Purchase Act 1967 (HPA) that took effect on June 15.

A recent CIMB Research report showed that vehicle sales shot up 20% month-on-month in July, reversing three straight months of decline.

“This suggests the start of a recovery in vehicle sales as parts supply and vehicle deliveries return to normal with Japan sorting out its supply snags. The 6% year-on-year dip in automotive total industry volume (TIV) to 50,252 units in July is not a concern. Sales should pick up in the subsequent months,” said CIMB Research auto analyst Loke Wei Wern.

“We expect vehicle sales to be strong in August, driven by the rush for deliveries before Hari Raya,” added Loke.

Meanwhile, teething problems in the car-buying and vehicle registration process caused by the amended HPA have been sorted out following a meeting between the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry and the Malaysian Automotive Association in late July.

Loke also noted that July's strong vehicle sales were supported by a full-month contribution from the new Perodua Myvi, which was launched in mid-June.

The success of the new Myvi returned Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) to pole position in July, with Perodua selling 16,375 units compared with Proton Holdings Bhd's sales of 12,266 units.

Loke pointed out that Proton's dominance in vehicle sales during May and June was short-lived.

“The new Myvi has garnered 25,000 bookings to date, and accounted for over 50% of Perodua sales in July,” she said.

Affin Investment Bank auto analyst Chong Lee Len concurred, and said: “There was a sharp 85% month-on-month rise in Perodua sales in July. We expect Perodua to retain its market leadership position as the new MyVi gains further traction with buyers.”

Chong noted that a higher level of competition in July also affected Proton, which saw its sales volume fall 13% year-on-year and 6% month-on-month.

However, Proton still has a slight lead over Perodua in vehicle sales in the first seven months of this year (Proton sold 97,489 units compared with Perodua's 95,842 units).

In July, UMW Toyota Motor and Honda Malaysia staged strong double-digit month-on-month rebounds in vehicle sales of 26% and 33% respectively.

Toyota's sales of 7,934 units were driven by demand for the Hilux pick-up truck and Vios while Honda's sales of 2,608 units were boosted by its popular Insight hybrid car and Civic, according to CIMB Research.

In a recent statement, Honda Malaysia said the waiting period for its Insight hybrid is presently less than a month (compared with two to three months previously) as production in Japan had recovered since June.

The first seven months of this year were also notable in terms of strong growth for certain European, American and South Korean marques. As at the end of July, Volkswagen, Ford, Peugeot, Kia and Chevrolet had surpassed their total sales in 2010.

Volkswagen Group Malaysia recorded sales of 3,070 units (total of 2,810 units in 2010) on the back of strong demand for its 1.4-litre Golf TSI and 2.0-litre Golf GTI and the 1.2-litre Volkswagen Polo TSI.

The Ford Fiesta, offered here in 1.4 and 1.6-litre sedan and hatchback variants, boosted sales of the American marque to 4,005 units (total of 2,857 units in 2010).

Naza Group unit Nasim Sdn Bhd, the official distributor of Peugeot brand in Malaysia, sold 3,407 cars (total of 2,562 units in 2010) due to high demand for its Peugeot 308 models and 207 sedan.

Other vehicle marques under the Naza Group such as Kia and Chevrolet also performed well, boosted by demand for new models such as the Kia Sportage and Sorento as well as the 1.8-litre Chevrolet Cruze.

In the premium and luxury segment, Lexus and Porsche also surpassed their total sales in 2010.

The CT 200h hybrid car was a major sales contributor to Lexus Malaysia, a division of UMW Toyota Motor, which should be happy with sales of 562 units as at end of July (total of 431 units in 2010).

As at the end of July, Sime Darby Auto Performance Sdn Bhd the authorised distributor and seller of Porsche vehicles in Malaysia had recorded sales of 231 units (total of 126 units in 2010) due largely to the popularity of its Cayenne SUV (sport utility vehicle) range.

Porsche sales were also helped by a four-year or 100,000km (whichever comes first) free maintenance package for all models (except the GT models). Meanwhile, BMW diesel-powered passenger car sales in Malaysia reached record levels this year.

Diesel-powered car sales accounted for 15% of the 2,943 BMW units sold as at the end of July.

The best-selling BMW diesel-engined car is the 520d, followed by the X1 xDrive 20d and 320d all assembled in Kulim, Kedah.

BMW Malaysia managing director Geoffrey Briscoe said: “The BMW diesel-powered cars are great value propositions. Average fuel consumption can be more than 1,000km on a full tank.”

Briscoe added that while the car engines were built according to Euro III standards, they work exceptionally well with the current Euro 2M fuel grade in Malaysia.

Meanwhile AP reported from New York that Fears that car buyers would stay away from dealerships in August never materialized.

Instead, Americans were lured by new models, cheaper financing and the need to replace aging cars. As a result, August sales rose 7.5 percent compared with the same month last year, according to Autodata Corp.

Most major automakers reported healthy sales increases in August, led by Chrysler with a 31 percent jump. Toyota and Honda saw double-digit declines as they continued to struggle with earthquake-related car shortages.

Results were better than expected. Some analysts thought that the volatile stock market and Hurricane Irene would hurt sales. While it was easy for carmakers to do better than last year, which was the worst August for the industry since a double-dip recession in 1983, the results were also a sign that sales could pick up speed after a disappointing summer of little or no growth.

"Consumers are inching back into buying items and some big-ticket purchases," says Paul Ballew, a former GM chief economist who now works for Nationwide Insurance.

He attributed the sales increase to people replacing aging vehicles, record-low loan rates of less than 4 percent for customers with good credit, and high trade-in values for used cars. Car loans carried more than 6 percent interest just three years ago.

People are also driving their cars longer than before the recession. The average age of a car in the U.S. was almost 11 years in July, according to the Polk research firm.

If sales stayed at August's pace, they would end the year at 12.1 million. That's better than the 11.6 million last year, but still far below the 17 million in 2005.

Because they have cut staff and factories since the recession, automakers are turning profits at the lower sales levels. But they're still hoping for a better autumn, as supplies of Japanese cars get back to normal and new cars such as the redesigned Toyota Camry go on sale.

Even Irene could boost sales, as people whose cars were damaged or destroyed look for new ones.

Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends and insights for the car pricing site TrueCar.com, says the hurricane cost automakers about 5,000 sales in the last weekend of August, but he expects them to be made up later. GM says it will offer $500 to car buyers in major disaster areas and let those buyers defer payments for 90 days.

Chrysler Group's sales jump was due to strong demand for Jeeps and minivans. General Motors Co.'s sales rose 18 percent, led by the new Chevrolet Cruze small car, which accounted for one in every 10 GM vehicles sold. Buyers also went for the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain small crossovers.

New models also boosted Ford Motor Co.'s sales, which rose 11 percent on the strength of the Ford Explorer SUV and Ford Fiesta subcompact.

But Toyota Motor Corp.'s sales fell almost 13 percent, while Honda Motor Co.'s sales slid 24 percent. Dealers are still short on many top-selling models such as the Honda Civic.

Randy Pflughaupt, Toyota's vice president of sales administration, says all of Toyota's North American plants will be fully operational this month and will crank up production with overtime and extra shifts. But supplies won't be completely back to normal levels until next year.

The industry remains wary. The unemployment rate is stuck at 9 percent, food and clothing costs are going up and consumer confidence dropped to its lowest level in more than two years in August. But August sales indicated things are on the right track, barring further bad economic news.

"Consumers are being cautious, yes, and appropriately so, but they are not retrenching," says GM's U.S. sales chief Don Johnson. "All indications to us are that the industry is going to continue to slowly grow through the rest of the year."

Other automakers reporting Thursday:

- Nissan said sales were up 19 percent on demand for the Altima midsize sedan as well as the newly redesigned Versa subcompact.

- Hyundai Motor Co. said sales rose 9 percent. Sales of the new Accent small car were up 37 percent.

- Kia Motors said sales were up 27 percent, on demand for the new Sorento crossover.

- Volkswagen AG said sales were up 10 percent on strong demand for the new Jetta sedan.

Commodities dominate Malaysia’s exports

PETALING JAYA: Demand for commodities from China and India will remain the main pillar of support for Malaysia's exports in July as in the previous month with the export-reliant manufacturing sector continuing to feel the impact from a drop in sales of consumer electric and electronic (E&E) goods from the United States and Europe.

Commodity exports account for roughly 40% of the country's exports.

According to Singapore-based economists, the exports front would remain volatile with July's data to mirror June's to a certain extent although exports could weaken further in August based on commodity futures prices, which have trended downward in recent months.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd economist Gundy Cahyadi told StarBiz that exports would be held up by commodities but the pace of growth could be slower compared with June.

“This is quite clear cut for exporters in Asean and this will likely be the case for Malaysia too,” he said, adding that the high proportion of commodities in Malaysia and Indonesia's exports had provided a buffer for exports.

Gundy said the rise in commodity exports must also be put into perspective as prior to the recent decline in prices, commodity prices were rising year-on-year, which in turn had lent support to exporters such as Malaysia.

For June, exports climbed 8.6% year-on-year compared with May's 5.4%, higher than a Bloomberg survey for a 5.8% rise. The growth in exports was largely due to intra-regional trade in commodities.

Gundy said although commodity prices were less price-sensitive compared with manufactured goods, this did not mean that prices would not come down should global growth slowed further.

United Overseas Bank Ltd economist Ho Woei Chen said consumer demand and infrastructure development in China would still be the best bet for Asean's export-reliant economies. “This is because China should not have a problem sustaining growth at between 8% and 9%,” she added.

However, Ho believes that Malaysia's exports could face even more challenges ahead as commodity futures have trended downwards in recent months. “This will impact August's export numbers as forward manufacturing indicators such as the industrial production index (measuring factory output) will still be low,” she said.

Meanwhile, Forecast Pte Ltd economist Radhika Rao said E&E exports would likely underperform in the second half of the year in lockstep with the regional trends as structural changes would see need for higher value-added E&E products.

“Our estimates for July are 7.4% year-on-year rise in exports, 5.6% growth in imports which should see the trade surplus widen to RM8.4bil. Trends for the third quarter should also hold up well as Japan steps up demand after the disasters earlier in the year,” she said.

Radhika said fortunately for Malaysian exporters, nearly 60% of total shipments went to intra-Asian trade with China and India making up nearly 17% of total purchases.

“This should again lend some support for the headline exports, though that is not to mean it will be completely shielded from pullback in demand from the West,” she said.

The commodity-exports angle was still in favour of the economy, given the products' relative price-inelasticity, she added.

“Overall while Malaysia is partly shielded, marked weakness in key Western markets, especially the United States and Japan, will hurt local exporters. A firmer ringgit is also an additional burden,” he said.

Malaysia sees a big jump in FDIs

Last year, Malaysia attracted RM47.2 billion in total investments, both foreign and domestic.

Mustapa said the government's initiatives, namely the Government Transformation Programme and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), have raised the interest of the investing community.

"In July alone, we approved 61 manufacturing projects investments - mostly domestic (55.8 per cent) - totalling RM4.3 billion," the minister pointed out.
For the first seven months of the year, he added, the manufacturing sector attracted 514 projects of which RM15.8 billion are foreign investments. These projects are expected to generate 63,387 employment opportunities.

Speaking to Business Times, Mustapa said Malaysia saw a 76 percent jump in FDIs in the first half of the year with RM21.3 billion versus RM12.1 billion in the same period last year.

Some 52 per cent of these FDIs valued at RM15 billion were in the manufacturing sector.

Japan led the pack with RM3.4 billion worth of investments followed by the US (RM2.3 billion) and Singapore (RM1.4 billion), the Netherlands (RM1.2 billion) and Taiwan (RM1.2 billion).

Elaborating on the figures, Mustapa said electrical and electronics products (RM6.5 billion) continue to be the main industrial sector draw to foreign interest in Malaysia, followed by basic metal products (RM2.4 billion), chemicals and chemical products (RM1.7 billion) and food manufacturing (RM1.1 billion).

He disagreed that Malaysia was losing out in terms of capital-intensive investments.

"Malaysia continues to be an attractive location for quality projects, including capital-intensive projects."

With rising competition from low-cost producers such as China, India and Vietnam, Malaysia is no longer competitive in low-end manufacturing.

"Capital intensity, (as measured by the capital investment per employee or CIPE ratio) of manufacturing projects approved, climbed from RM167,638 in 1990 to RM484,767 in 2010. This reflects the general trend towards more capital-intensive, high value-added and high technology projects," Mustapa said.

For the first half of the year, 58 projects with an investment value of RM100 million or more each were approved.

Most of these projects were in sectors such as electrical and electronics, basic metal, transport equipment and petrochemicals. Several other projects are in the pipeline and are currently being negotiated. These cover both expansion and diversification by existing investors and also new projects.

Mustapa expects domestic private investment to serve as a key engine of growth.

Vast business opportunities will be created through new growth areas, especially as the ETP is being rolled out.

Under the ETP, private investment will account for 92 per cent of the RM1.4 trillion investments required from 2010 to 2020.
Domestic investments will account for 73 per cent of total private investments, he said.

Since the introduction of the ETP in October 2010, six announcements have been made on its progress covering a total of 87 projects valued at RM170.28 billion and estimated to create 362,000 jobs.

Of this total, RM16.45 billion has been committed for 2011, and RM10.84 billion (66 per cent) is expected to come from domestic sources. 

Human capital from local varsities contribute to auto industry

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI) is collaborating with various local universities to develop skilled human capital for the Malaysian automotive industry.

“For the past one year since MAI was set up, we've been focusing on developing human capital development programmes for the manufacturing side of the local automotive industry,” said MAI chief executive officer Madani Sahari.

He said MAI had been collaborating with several local universities to develop programmes for five levels of talent within the manufacturing sector, namely executives, engineers, designers, technicians and operators.

For the executive and engineer levels, MAI started a professional automotive graduate apprenticeship programme with Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) and Universiti Malaysia Pahang.

The apprenticeship will see the parties collaborating to churn out over 5,700 automotive-related executives and engineers.

“It's a two-year programme. In the third year of their course, we give them the relevant (theoretical) training and in their final year, they will intern at companies relevant to their studies.

“There is constant evaluation on a monthly basis to see if the students meet their set targets. If they don't, more tutoring and coaching will be done to improve their skills,” said Madani.

According to him, a total of 121 have been recruited under the apprenticeship programme, with 61 already interning.

The MAI has also collaborated with Universiti Malaysia Perlis to develop human capital programmes for local automotive designers.

“We started last November and had 20 students in our first batch and will be taking in 60 more (in the next batch in October). This programme will see us churn out over 5,000 designers eventually,” said Madani.

He said the programmes are intended to train and prepare the would-be designers to be up-to-date with the latest automotive design standards.

“We train them to work with the latest design software and best practices for implementing optimum simulation analysis.”

Madani added that MAI would soon be collaborating with UiTM to develop a programme on automotive styling.

“(Automotive styling) is an important aspect of automotive design. We will select students who are in their year in university for this programme and give them the relevant training.

“In their final semester year, they will serve as interns and with the training that they have receive, they will be able to contribute directly to the automotive industry.”

MAI has collaborated with the German Malaysian Institute and Advance Technology Training Centre (Atdec) and come up with the industry-led professional certificate (IPC) programme for the development of lower level talents within the automotive manufacturing sector, namely technicians and operators.

“The IPC was developed to provide adequate skill to the lower level talents and help transform them into multi-skilled workers,” said Madani.

He said that the IPC is also intended to replace the low skilled foreign workers within the sector.

“In the automotive industry, especially the vendor community, there are many foreign workers. Because they are working on contract basis, they come and go. Because of this, we can't retain them and train them for higher skilled jobs. This affects our productivity.”

Madani said that to improve productivity, especially in the automotive industry, there is a need to introduce elements of robotics and automation. “But to do this, we need skilled manpower to manage these equipment. Having foreign workers that are low skilled and who come and go won't help. We need our own local workers than can do the job,” he said.

Madani said the IPC programme commenced in February and has so far produced 32 local talents in metal stamping, press dies and injection moulds.

“The next batch in September will see us recruiting 180 talents. It will be a three-month theoretical training programme. After the training, 90 of them will go into the manufacturing sector while another 90 into the after sales segment.

“We will also be monitoring their progress after they complete their training,” said Madani.

Apart from developing human capital programmes, the MAI is also collaborating with various parties to improve the local automotive supply chain.

“We've started working with SME Corp last year on a programme called the lean production system that is targeted at improving the supply chain process for national car companies Proton and Perodua and their suppliers.

“Effective June this year, we're taking over fully from SME Corp. We're also working with Sirim and other local universities to improve the testing database during product development.”

MAI is an agency under the International Trade and Industry Ministry that was established as the focal point and coordination centre for the development of the local automotive industry.

“One of the focal points of the MAI is to make the current automotive industry more competitive. This involves resolving structural issues, improving quality and productivity and helping to reduce cost,” said Madani, adding that developing local talent was one of the many objectives of the institute to achieve its goals.

MAI has also been tasked with conducting a review of the National Automotive Policy (NAP).

While he declined to go into specifics about the NAP, Madani said that the MAI had been conducting research studies on more than 10 papers on subjects relating to technology, market changes and the industry outlook of the automotive industry.

“The output of these researches will also go into the (review) NAP. Moving forward, we cannot deny that the automotive industry needs to be a greener industry.”

Madani pointed out that “going green” did not just mean the emphasis will be solely on hybrid and electric vehicles (EVs).

“We should look at (developing) more fuel efficient engines and alternative fuels, such as bio-diesel or fuel cells,” he said.

Going green, he added, would also be extended to materials used to develop automobiles.

“As we develop EVs and hybrids or vehicles that run on bio-diesel and fuel cells, the weight of the car must also reduce, so the plastics and metals must be lighter and more sturdy (have better physical and mechanical properties) to go along with a lighter vehicle.

Madani added that there is also a need for heightened awareness and acceptance on going green.