Malaysia's trade minister revealed the September target date Monday in remarks that appeared to confirm talk that the government had been prodded into a rethink of auto-tariff and auto-tax plans announced six months ago.

``I do believe it's going to be in September,'' Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz said.

But she declined to give details on plans for auto tariffs, which must be cut to between 0 percent and 5 percent by 2008 for all Southeast Asian auto imports under a free-trade pact. Malaysia's current auto policy, which has sought for decades to shelter domestic carmakers from the full force of competition, is running out of road, with the government under constant pressure to open its auto market under free-trade agreements.

Last December, it said it would cut duties on cars imported from Southeast Asia to 20 percent this year, from rates as high as 190 percent. But a senior government source said this was put on hold after local car assemblers objected.

Assemblers from outside Southeast Asia, which make cars from imported kits and include major marques such as Toyota and Honda, have complained that the December plan put them at a steep disadvantage.

For example, car kits imported from outside Southeast Asia attract import duty, while those brought from within the region are duty free. This was a big issue in free trade talks recently with Japan.

Malaysia's two major domestic car-makers, state-controlled Proton and rival Perodua, command about two-thirds of the passenger-car market. Unlike assemblers, they make cars from scratch, spending large sums on research and development.

Malaysia is also working on a proposal to turn itself into a regional hub for automotive production to rival Thailand, Southeast Asia's biggest overall auto market.

But the government will not release this blueprint publicly, Rafidah said.

``It's an overview of the overall automotive policy, with the idea of wanting to make Malaysia a regional hub for automotive manufacturing, and manufacturing of auto parts and components,'' she said.

``That is a strategy paper that we are not going to announce to the world.''

Japanese carmaker Honda and a Malaysian distributor for Japan's Nissan have shelved expansion plans worth 100-150 million ringgit (HK$205-307 million) each because of uncertainty over Malaysia's auto policy, according to a recent report.

Malaysia's car market is still growing quickly,with total vehicle sales last month rising 17.3 percent from a year earlier to 43,736 units. REUTERS