| Summary: | Compared to many developing countries, Malaysia has been far less successful in getting its citizen to embrace hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). The study investigates the reasons behind this problem and offers a framework that could facilitate policymakers and stakeholders toward the electrification transition. Using the textual-based content analysis method, text-based articles and comments were extracted from a local reputable automotive news portal using a web scraper tool and analyzed using the open-coding technique. Surprisingly, environmental and greenhouse pollution issues did not emerge from our analysis—indicating that altruistic values and ecological consideration are not among the consumers' priorities when evaluating HEVs. Value proposition and risk aversion form the main themes, while national carmakers, competition, ambiguous policies, perceived unfairness in incentives distribution, and physical presentation constitute the minor themes. Overall, the consumers remain highly cautious and skeptical toward HEVs ownership proposition. This paper contributes to the existing literature by presenting a strategic framework for consumers' adoption of HEVs across Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The main message is that HEV adoption requires a firm political resolution from ASEAN governments to promote a fairer playing field within the region by complementing (rather than competing with) each other. By removing non-tariff barriers and providing incentives, the gradual growth of a sizeable and sustainable HEV customer base will potentially dispel existing consumers' negative perceptions toward these cars. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.
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