It looks like Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng will be rolling around in 2014 in style, as his new ride with the customary PG1 number plate is this V221 Mercedes-Benz S300L from Lowe Motors Penang, finished in Palladium Silver with a grey interior.

We were informed that only one unit was procured after extensive discussions on aftersales service levels and discount negotiation. Being a government purchase, no tax was paid on it. The car comes with a four year unlimited mileage warranty.

Given that the new S-Class has already been released, this model must have been procured at quite a bit of savings. A quick check for brand new S-Class on Malaysia's oto.my car classifieds reveals a brand new year 2012 unregistered unit being advertised by an official Mercedes-Benz Malaysia dealer for RM560k, which is a discount of RM100k from the car's new price.

The PG1 number plate used to be on an 18 year old W140 Mercedes-Benz S-Class. It was moved for a brief period to a black Toyota Camry that was part of the new fleet of Toyota Camry 2.5V purchased as the state's official car at a cost of RM113,500 per car - tax free as well.

According to the Penang state government, the decision to replace the old fleet was due to the high costs in maintaining them – all the cars are more than 15 years old. "The cost of maintaining all 21 official state cars was RM370,400 in 2011, RM383,000 last year and for this year, up until now, RM301,238," said state exco member Chow Kon Yeow.