Grab Malaysia bans all Neta EVs from its e-hailing service

Grab Malaysia has recently added Neta models to its Rejected Car Models list. The Chinese EV maker has released two models in Malaysia so far, including Neta V and Neta X.

In general, Grab Malaysia accepts all car models under 14 years old for the use of its e-hailing service, while pick-up trucks are also accepted in East Malaysia. However, there are certain models that the company will not accept at all, and these models fall under the Rejected Car Models list.

Banned due to safety concerns

We have since confirmed the addition of Neta models to the list. Here’s a statement that the company has sent to SoyaCincau.com in regards to why the company decided to ban EVs from Neta:

“The decision was made based on safety considerations, as Neta models received zero stars in the ASEAN NCAP crash test. While previous APAD guidelines required vehicles to achieve a minimum of three stars in the ASEAN NCAP crash test, this requirement has been removed in the latest guidelines. However, Grab has made a business decision to uphold this standard to ensure the safety of our passengers and driver-partners.

Grab remains committed to maintaining high safety standards for all vehicles used on our platform, as part of our ongoing efforts to provide a safe and reliable service for everyone.” – Grab Malaysia

While Grab Malaysia did not reveal when exactly the company added Neta models to its Rejected Car Models list, we believe the addition was fairly recent. According to the last archived data on 22 May 2025 by the Internet Wayback Machine, Neta’s name was not yet listed.

There are only a handful of Neta EVs on our roads

According to JPJ’s registration data, 298 units of Neta V have been registered with the department up until 31 May 2025. As for Neta X, 59 units have been registered with JPJ within the same period.  

Neta V was first introduced in our market during the Malaysia Autoshow 2023. However, the car was only officially launched a few months later with a price tag of RM100,000.

At Malaysia Autoshow 2024, the distributor of Neta in Malaysia, Intro Synergy, previewed the Neta X in our market for the first time. The electric SUV was then officially launched in July that year with a starting price of RM119,888.

At the moment, Neta’s future in Malaysia seemed rather uncertain. In early June, Intro Synergy announced that it would be going through a restructuring process.

Despite that, the company assures that all service centres will continue to be operational and all warranties will continue to be honoured. In the same announcement, Intro Synergy also said that it is planning to switch to the direct-to-consumer business model.

Several days later, it was then revealed that Hozon Auto, which is the company behind Neta, has begun the bankruptcy restructuring process. It is not yet known how long this process will take, but Hozon Auto is confident enough that it will be able to recover and has already been aiming to launch three global models by 2027.