obstacles and problems, and the franchise would change hands multiple times before settling with its current owner, the UMW group. Toyota's first appointed Malaysian distributor was the Asia Motor Company, founded by the Ph'ng family from Penang. Asia Motor imported the Toyota Land Cruiser (FJ25) into Malaya in August 1957, as well as the Toyota Truck (FA70) the following year. However, Asia Motor's contract soon expired, and in September 1960, Toyota signed a new distributor agreement with Kah Motor, a wholly owned subsidiary of Penang-based Oriental Holdings, chaired by Loh Boon Siew. Kah Motor imported Toyota and Toyopet passenger cars such as the Tiara and Publica for sale in Malaya and Singapore. In December 1963, Kah Motor and Toyota announced plans for a Toyota assembly plant in Butterworth, in response to the Malaysian government's proposal to set up a domestic automotive industry. However, various complications occurred in the following years, and in 1967, Toyota signed a separate distributor agreement with Borneo Motors, a subsidiary of London-based Inchcape. That same year, Borneo Motors' sister company, Motor Investments (MIB) commenced construction of the Champion Motors (CM) assembly plant in Shah Alam. In February 1968, the first Malaysian-assembled Toyota models rolled out of the Champion Motors plant. In addition to Toyota models, Champion Motors also assembled Volkswagen, Vauxhall, Chevrolet and Mercedes-Benz models in its initial years of operations. Although not an official Toyota plant, Champion Motors benefited significantly from Japanese technology transfer by adopting the Toyota Production System. By the 1970s, Toyota models had accounted for the largest share of Champion Motors' production. In July 1975, Champion Motors was renamed Assembly Services (ASSB). Apart from Borneo Motors, Toyota had also granted the franchise rights for Toyota commercial vehicles (Hilux and Land Cruiser) to other Malaysian companies such as Emastorin Motor and Sarin Motor, the latter of which oversaw Land Cruiser assembly at the Sarawak Motor Industries (SMI) plant for the East Malaysian market. By the dawn of the 1980s, various complications had brought about yet another franchise transition. In 1981, negotiations between Toyota and United Motor Works (UMW), led by Eric Chia culminated in UMW's appointment as the new Toyota franchise holder in Malaysia. The following year, UMW, through its subsidiary Sejati Motor acquired the Assembly Services plant and Borneo Motors network from Inchcape. By 1983, Toyota operations in both West and East Malaysia were unified, and in 1987, Sejati Motor was renamed