Perodua’s first hybrid will be launched with full model change – no Ativa Hybrid, but Bezza or Myvi Hybrid?

It’s no surprise that hybrid vehicles are in Perodua’s plans – the hints have been plenty and obvious – but it has now been unequivocally declared by Perodua president and CEO Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Ahmad. When asked about the market leader’s plans for hybrids at yesterday’s 2023 outlook event, he said yes and explained why.

“Based on the steps (electrification), we should do hybrid first. I can say it now that hybrid is in our plans and we will go on hybrid mass production. We will announce when and which model later on,” he said.

“Why we need to do that? By 2030, we have to achieve certain CAFE targets, 4.2 litres per 100 km. In order to achieve that, we must make sure that we have hybrid vehicles apart from ICE. If we have EVs, that’s even better. So we will continue and do the hybrid model,” Zainal added.

By the way, CAFE stands for corporate average fuel economy, the average FC for a carmaker’s entire range. The P2 chief explained to us later that the 4.2 litres per 100 km (23.8 km/l) CAFE figure was sort of like a KPI given by the government in its carbon neutral journey.

“Perodua is actively implementing and promoting advanced technology to manufacture products using less resources, to achieve 2030 CAFE plan of 4.2 litres per 100 km for all new vehicles,” the carmaker said in yesterday’s presentation.

So, which model will be Perodua’s first hybrid? If this was a quiz, the most popular answer would be the Ativa Hybrid, a rebadged Daihatsu Rocky e-Smart Hybrid that is currently being tested in Malaysia by 300 subscribers. However, when asked, Zainal said that P2’s first hybrid will be a variant (as opposed to a standalone model like the Toyota Prius) in a full model change a.k.a. all-new next-generation model.

FMC kind of rules out the Ativa Hybrid. The ICE Ativa made its debut in March 2021 and a next generation SUV is very far away. The Alza MPV is even newer and the all-new D74A Axia’s launch is just around the corner – there’s no hybrid. The next model due for a FMC is the Bezza sedan, which was launched in 2016 and facelifted in 2020.

It is thought that Perodua is part of the development of the fourth-generation Toyota Vios, which made its Thailand debut in August 2022. Last month, Daihatsu filed patent images of similar looking sedan with Indonesia’s Directorate General of Intellectual Property (DGIP), so the whole T family, which includes P2, is in on the new sedan. Is this the new 2024 Bezza with a hybrid variant?

Or could it be a Myvi Hybrid? If the “love of the nation” is to kick off Perodua’s electrification journey, it’ll be a couple of years more (2025?) as the third-generation Myvi facelift surfaced in late 2021.