Swedish Motor Assemblies

The Swedish Motor Assemblies Sdn. Bhd. (SMA) is a car manufacturer with headquarters in Shah Alam, Malaysia. It was founded in 1967 by the Swedish Volvo Cars AB as a local assembly plant. From 1999 until the spring of 2010 the plant was part of Ford Motor Company.

The activities started in February 1968 with the installation of the Volvo 144, which was produced for the local market until 1996. As a better-equipped model from 1984, there were also the Volvo 240. In the mid-nineties, the Volvo S40 and its wagon version Volvo V40 were introduced. With the takeover by Ford, SMA also began manufacturing Land Rover Defenders.

The first model of the new millennium in 2001 came the luxurious Volvo S60 added. This Volvo ran into the Malaysian market for the first time in the upper middle class. Two years later, it was followed by the Volvo S80 and SUV Volvo XC90. In 2004, after all, the S40 was replaced by its second generation. The combined Volvo V50 was only added in the following year. In July 2006, the coupe-convertible Volvo C70 debuted. In 2008 it was followed by the Volvo C30. The old S80, which still was manufactured here in the first generation. With the new joint venture Indobuana Autoraya, this model was exported to Jakarta, Indonesia. The replacement came in April 2010 by the current model of the type Volvo AS.

Up to 6000 units per year are manufactured in the Malaysian plant, with approximately 500 employees working in two shifts. The site comprises a total area of 25,000 square metres. Distribution of vehicles is handled by the in-house sales organization, Volvo Car Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.. The vehicles assembled here have vehicle identification number (VIN), with the eleventh position of the assembly plant, a "5". SMA also built parts for Volvo AB and Renault Trucks SAS Truck Commercial.

As of Q1 2016, only the V40, V60, S60 and XC60 remain in production. Production of the first generation XC90 ceased in September 2014, while the last S80 unit rolled off the line in August 2015.

Volvo Car Manufacturing Malaysia commenced local assembly of the second generation XC90 in May 2016, making it the first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) to be assembled in Malaysia. The locally assembled (CKD) XC90 T8 Twin Engine was formally launched on 1 June 2016, approximately six months after the debut of the fully imported (CBU) XC90. VCM's 50-year-old Shah Alam plant is the first and currently only plant to assemble the new XC90 outside Sweden. Volvo had greatly invested in the plant's infrastructure to handle to the company's new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA) platform. The locally assembled XC90 was granted EEV status and significant tax exemptions, allowing it to be priced well under its fully imported, non-hybrid/EV competitors. In terms of specifications, the CKD XC90 is almost identical to the CBU XC90, with differences being limited to paint options and other cosmetic changes. VCM will export the new Malaysian-assembled XC90 to neighbouring Thailand, and the company has also announced plans to assemble the upcoming S90 in the near future.