Perodua’s new MD Aminar Rashid Salleh unveiled to Utusan Malaysia
that we can expect a new Perodua Myvi somewhere around April 2011, with
a Myvi SE to be launched a couple of months later around June 2011. He
also revealed that a new 1.5 liter variant of the Myvi is in the works.
This makes sense since they are already making the transverse-install
front wheel drive 1.5 liter 3SZ-VE engine for the Alza, why not put it
in the Myvi?
Apparently the new Myvi will have a new look. It’s actually about
time for the Myvi to be refreshed, so Perodua is pretty much on schedule
for a typical 5 year lifecycle with a facelift in the middle. The Myvi
was launched in May 2005 and after 5 years, time for a replacement in
the first half of 2011. If you remember, in mid-February we saw the
Myvi’s Japanese cousin refreshed with a new look. Frankly, I don’t
expect the Myvi to look 100% like that model as with each new rebadge
product, Perodua has been moving away further and further from the JDM
model’s exterior and interior.
I feel Toyota/Daihatsu has been slowly moving their JDM models to
target specific niche markets with very tailor-made products. They have
so many little cars based on the same platform over there in Japan, and
from the marketing material of the new Passo/Boon, it’s quite obvious
that the car is now targeted towards young ladies. In Malaysia, the Myvi
is a unisex mass market car, so I’m expecting both exterior and
interior styling to differ significantly in the details, while generally
keeping the same shape.
