KUALA LUMPUR, April 13 — Toyota Avanza, Sienta, and Rush will be cheaper in Malaysia with immediate effect, the local distributor of the Japanese carmaker announced today.

UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd said it is reverting to the original prices of these budget multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) after the Malaysian Customs Department reversed an earlier hike in excise duty to 65 per cent.

"For customers’ orders collected between 10th to 12th April, UMWT will be using the latest revised price based on 60 per cent excise duty,” it said.

"Earlier, the prices were changed by the company on 10th April in reaction to the sudden increase from 60 per cent to 65 per cent in excise duties by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department effective 1st April,” it added.

This means that Toyota Avanza will now be priced back at between RM72,280 and RM83,980. It was briefly raised to between RM75,980 and RM87,980 when the 65 per cent Customs tax hike too effect.

The prices for the Sienta model is now back to the original RM 92,900-RM 99,900 from the hiked price of RM96,900-RM 103,900 while the Rush is now at the starting price of RM104,910 from RM109,900 previously.

On April 1, the Customs Department increased the excise duty for budget MPVs from 60 per cent to 65 per cent, but have now reversed the hike to the original excise duty rate of 60 per cent.

Toyota was the first company to react to the announcement. The prices for the three budget MPV models went up by between RM3,310 and RM6,000 during that period.