Speaking at the official launch of the Myvi here today, Mustapa Mohamed said he hoped the all-new Myvi would continue Perodua’s success and become one of the best selling cars in the country.
“The launch (of the all-new Myvi) today is a historic moment. It is a 100% Malaysian-design model. With lots of improvements, Perodua has done a wonderful job,” he said.
He added, “The government is looking forward to Perodua exporting its cars overseas.”
Established in 1993, Perodua is leveraging on its partnership with Japan’s Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd.
Commenting on the 5,000 bookings that the all-new Myvi received so far, Perodua chairman Asmat Kamaludin said, “It is an endorsement to our capability and productivity. It is a sign of responsibility for us to improve more in the future.”
The Myvi comes in five variants, namely the 1.3 Standard (MT), 1.3 standard G (AT), 1.3 Premium X (AT), 1.5 High (AT) and 1.5 Advance (AT).
Perodua president and chief executive officer Aminar Rashid Salleh described the all-new Myvi, priced from RM44,300 to RM55,300, as one of the best value-for-money cars in its price range.
“From Nov 9 to this afternoon, we received 5,000 bookings, of which 78% were for the 1.5 cc model.
“We are blessed with the overwhelming response,” he told a press conference prior to the car’s launch.
Daihatsu Motor Co Ltd president Soichiro Okudaira was present.
Aminar Rashid said Perodua was targeting average monthly sales of 6,000 units of the third generation Myvi, which has received a five-star safety rating by New Car Assessment Programme for Southeast Asian Countries (Asean NCAP).
“We are targeting to produce between 75,000 and 80,000 cars a year,” he said.
Aminar Rashid said even though there were plans to export the car, Perodua would focus on the domestic market for now.
“We will try to fulfil the current and future bookings here first before looking at the export market,” he said.
Refuting claims that the all-new Myvi was copied from another carmaker, he said the design was totally conceptualised in-house and involved a total of 59 local designers.
“It is a fresh design from us. We structured the design based on what Malaysians want. It is also based on global trends,” he said.
The all-new Myvi posts fuel economy figures of between 20.1 and 21.1 kilometres per litre, averaging 32% more efficient than the previous model.
The cars come in six colours – ivory white, glittering silver, mystical purple, lava red, peppermint green, and granite grey.