He said the company is finalising discussions, including production time and pricing, among other details.

“Rest assured, the hybrid of this Ativa model will be produced locally,” he said at a press conference at the Perodua factory here, in conjunction with Japanese ambassador to Malaysia Noriyuki Shikata’s tour of the facility.

The Ativa, a compact five-seater B-segment sport utility vehicle introduced in March 2021, is Perodua’s first model equipped with a turbocharged engine and continuously variable transmission.

Built on the Daihatsu Rocky and Toyota Raize platforms, the vehicle is powered by a 1.0-litre turbo engine and comes with advanced safety features.

For the Ativa Hybrid, Zainal said Perodua received about 1.5 billion yen (more than RM37 million) from the Global South Fund to support Japanese hybrid technology in Malaysia.

Regarding plans to collaborate with Daihatsu on electric vehicle development, he said the first step is to stabilise the infrastructure and charging station requirements in Malaysia.

“We still have a problem because of the few charging stations in the country,” said Zainal.

Daihatsu, a Japanese compact car company, holds a 20% share in Perodua.