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The Perodua Myvi – A National Icon

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1.1-million. Big number, right? It’s not until you think about it that you realise just why you see a Perodua Myvi everywhere you turn.

It’s amazing to think that back in 2005 when the Myvi was launched, Perodua thought that their bulbous, cute hatchback would maybe sell in the mid 5-figures annually. Compared to where it is now, wearing the crown as the best-selling new car in Malaysia for over a decade, the humility seems almost cute.

The Perodua Myvi can almost be singlehandedly credited for Perodua’s meteoric rise in the local automotive industry. While they’ve always been a big-volume player, the sheer dominance that the company enjoys today could not be possible with the various transformational changes that have been ushered in by every new iteration of the venerable Myvi.

Three generations have each been an indicator of where the company stood at that given time.

With the first generation, Perodua was an almost-bashful firm with a few good hits under its belt, having successfully moved the masses with the Kancil before moving buyers on to the more sophisticated Kelisa. But nothing could have prepared them for the whirlwind ushered in by the Myvi, which was conceptualised to sit in the market as a niche left-field offering against the ‘saloon-heavy’ Malaysian landscape.

Arriving as a lightly-reskinned version of Japanese domestic-market models, the first-generation Myvi went on to become the mainstream option to beat. It redefined the Malaysian market as not being saloon-heavy but one focused on value – and with the practicality on offer with the original Myvi, paired to Perodua’s already iron-clad reputation for quality and reliability, it proved to be a challenge that its competitors simply couldn’t beat.

With the second-generation, Perodua realised that its customers had become more exacting and with it, even more mature. As such the Myvi lost a bit of its practicality in favour of more style and vigour, featuring even greater degrees of local design flair and parts localisation. The original Myvi had bought Perodua much favour and trust from its Japanese technical partner and as such, they were given greater reign to determine the future of the Malaysian favourite.

If you paid close attention, you could see where Perodua flexed its engineering and design muscles on the second-generation Myvi. The two differing faces for the car for example were something of a litmus test that Daihatsu had devised for Perodua, to see if they could successfully and convincingly execute such an exercise and better align the Myvi to suit local tastes. And then there was the introduction of the 1.5-litre engine which, with the 1.0-litre of the first generation nowhere to be found, clearly demonstrated that Perodua had bigger ambitions for its family hatchback. Even the somewhat extreme designs of the Advance and Extreme models of the time were made to push the envelope and test the market, to see how well Malaysians would react to a more localised product.

These various exercises were conducted at Perodua to determine their readiness, to prepare them to take on the mammoth challenge ahead. So big was the task of developing the first fully localised Myvi that Perodua had to pop its R&D cherry with the Bezza first, ensuring that any kinks in the process were ironed out there first.

And with the Bezza’s rip-roaring success a solid proof of capability, only then were the boys and girls at Sg. Choh given the ultimate mandate: To design the next-generation Myvi.

They had a seemingly-Herculean task ahead of them: It had to be sophisticated in appeal, but simple in its engineering. It had to be frugal on fuel but still decently powerful, and it had to offer a level of refinement that would silence the critics (no pun intended). And above all it had to offer a level of safety at an accessible price point, effectively democratising life-saving active technology for the masses.

And in November of 2017, the Perodua Myvi did just that.

Debuting Advanced Safety Assist, the 3rd-generation Myvi brought big-car features like autonomous emergency braking, pre-collision warning, and range-wide full-LED headlights to the masses. And it came packaged in a car that was designed, developed, engineered and built in Malaysia. While it had long been considered the love of a nation, the 3rd-generation Myvi is the car that turned it from beloved to iconic, to be
forever enshrined as a pillar of Malaysian automotive capability.

Thanks to the Myvi, Perodua has been able to conclusively shift its focus from being an economy car brand to a value-driven one, with a clear vision on offering safety for the masses. And what better way to begin that trend than with the Myvi – a 12-year best-seller, Perodua’s beloved B-segment hatchback has been recently refreshed to offer a striking Electric Blue hue which hides upgrades and refinements like Advanced Safety Assist 2.0 to further improve the appeal of the segment dominator.

So this Merdeka day, let’s show some love for the Perodua Myvi.

It’s more than just the love of a nation; it’s a national icon.

GALLERY: The Perodua Myvi – A National Icon

OP-ED: Hike On Public Transport Fares A Regression We Cannot Afford

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It is day 58 of the Malaysian Movement Control Order, a measure taken under the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Act of 1988 and the Police Act of 1967 in order to stop the continued spread of the much-feared COVID-19, which began on the 18th of March and is tentatively expected to be removed on the 9th of June.

I certainly hope that you are keeping well, safe, and at a distance from others. Truly, the fate of the nation and its people lies in our hands, so act responsibly.

In my role here at MalaysianMotoring as the ‘captain of the ship’ as it were, I have remained as apolitical & apathetic as possible to the plights of the Government of the day. You don’t come here wanting to read about politics, as you’d much rather get that from the more experienced and learned pundits at The Star, The Edge, the New Straits Times, or The Sun. No, you come to MalaysianMotoring because, as its name suggests, you are a Malaysian that is interested in motoring. And so that is the content the publication and I deliver.

A Sri Petaling Line train on the rails. The Sri Petaling Line is operated by Rapid Rail, a part of Prasarana Malaysia Berhad

But, things have changed dramatically since we began in 2015. Suddenly, it’s not all about cars anymore. It wasn’t that long ago that we were warned as children not to speak to strangers but today we willingly let teenagers leave the house and get into a car with a stranger at the wheel tasked to bring them to their destination, with the only recourse coming from a virtual button in an app. And so we have responded to that change by including industry & legislative news, as well as updates on public transport.

And it is on the matter of public transport that I am moved, or rather required by duty to the nation as a paid-up and ever-grateful citizen of a functioning democracy, to say my piece. I say this not only as an editor of a publication, but also as a public transport user myself: It is a known fact that I have been without my own car for about three years now, and I am heavily reliant on public transport to get around. I have a deep adoration for trains and busses and a fascination with rapid-bus systems like the Sunway BRT, but I will refrain from getting sidetracked.

Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob during one of his daily media briefings

During his daily media address, which is limited to ‘official media’ only of which neither myself nor MalaysianMotoring belong to, Senior Minister of Security and Minister of Defence Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob revealed that the Ministry of Transport is studying a proposal to hike the fares on public transport in order to stem its operators losses as a result of the ongoing pandemic. The media present were not genuinely given the opportunity to ask the Minister questions on the matter, but he said of his own volition that he doesn’t want to see operators shouldering heavy losses and that the matter would be discussed in some special jawatankuasa of some kind.

I say this without fear or favour, but our public transport system has been quite lacking for some time now. As a frequent user however, I can report that changes & improvements across all forms of public transport, be it KTM Komuters, LRTs, Monorails, and busses have been felt in more recent years. Frequency has been improved, security is now more robust, and their reach has also been subject to frequent audits & revisions to ensure that more and more people are covered by their service. This was in keeping with the former administration’s intent to ensure that urban Malaysians especially would always have a reliable and dependable public transport option to get them where they needed to go.

YB Anthony Loke Siew Fook during one of his famous impromptu spotchecks on public transport, during his tenure as Minister of Transport

One of the most lauded moves by the previous Minister of Transport, the honourable Anthony Loke Siew Fook, was to ensure that transport was accessible to all. To that end, he first launched the MY50 and MY100 monthly travel passes under Prasarana Malaysia Berhad (operators of Rapid Bus, Rapid Rail, and Rapid Ferry services) to boost ridership, encouraging the use of public transport as a cost- and time-efficient alternative to driving to-and-from work on a daily basis. He also went on to launch the KTM X20 card for KTM Komuter services, which added a 20% discount on top of the 20% discount offered by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad for cashless transactions, making a total of 40% off the going fare. These two initiatives practically halved the total cost of public transport for daily users, and increased the attractiveness of our public transport system as an alternative to private vehicle ownership.

The former Minister of Transport also took operators to task, conducting random spotchecks on facilities and services whenever his schedule allowed. The Minister notably chided KTM for its large number of inoperable ticketing & card-reloading machines, and Prasarana Malaysia Berhad for its much-delayed restoration of 4-car monorail sets. Since then KTMB has improved the quality & reliability of its machines, and Prasarana has returned some 4-car monorails back to active service in the fleet, among many other improvements to their systems overall.

Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, the current Minister of Transport

However, it seems that the current sitting Minister of Transport, the honourable Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong is looking to undo the work of his predecessor to boost ridership and improve the long-term sustainability of the public transport network by hiking fares. This announcement was made by Senior Minister Ismail Sabri, and was not accompanied by the now-normal social media flurry that usually comes whenever an announcement is made on behalf of a ministry. Perhaps I am indeed a millennial in expecting my elected representatives to be available for discourse & criticism in the most public of public spheres, but the Minister of Transport has been notably quiet.

The issue is simple: Operators are losing money due to low ridership during the Conditional Movement Control Order, which is understandable, given that our Prime Minister himself said less than 45% of the total workforce has returned to work. However, historically, our public transport utilisation has always been markedly low, with many Malaysians preferring to clog our burdened road network due to the perception that somehow taking public transport somehow makes them lesser people, no doubt the result of excellent marketing & communication on our part following the establishment of the local automotive industry.

It is a known fact that many of our public transport systems, including the MRT, will fail to break-even on operating costs for years to come if we were to believe the ridership projections wholesale. I invite you to do your own reading on the matter – it is really quite remarkable.

A fleet of new Scania busses, as operated by Rapid Bus, a subsidiary of Prasarana Malaysia Berhad

As such, it is clear to intelligent people like you and I that the issue here isn’t with the cost of the service, but the ridership. At a time where the Government ought to be doing what it can to ensure that affordable, reliable public transportation is available to a wider network of people to boost ridership & usage as well to as offset the financial burden of private transportation, it is instead inviting people to consider the costs involved and make the obvious choice to use the cars they have, if they have them. There has been little concern by this administration towards the plight of those who have no choice but to use public transport, despite their posturing of Mak Cik Kiah and her husband being the primary drivers of their initiatives.

While many of you whom like myself take public transport by choice, and are afforded the option of using more costly e-hailing services from time to time, or are in fact car owners and merely use public transport as their primary commute option to pinch pennies, there are also many who are fully dependent on public transport because they have no other option. Raising public transport fares would make the M40 demographic (of which I believe I am part of) opt to simply take their cars to work because the nominal saving isn’t worth the hassle. Additionally, it would make members of the B40 category shoulder undue & unjust burden on top of the scuppering of day wages & trading opportunities as a result of this pandemic.

Riders queue at an information kiosk in Penang under the watch of a PDRM officer

It is my express opinion that the raising of public transport fares would only serve to prove how tone-deaf and out-of-touch this administration is with its people. While steering clear of the other mistakes made by the government of the day, this particular move will hurt far more people than it will benefit. And to my reckoning, the only benefiting parties are the public transport operators, who maintain near-monopolies on the industry with no major threat of competition. And in addition to that, aren’t essential businesses like public transport operators entitled to Government subsidies and backed loans should they fail to manage their finances prudently?

Is it not a greater priority of the Minister of Transport Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong to ensure that the public continue to be connected from point to point by a reliable transportation network during this time of unparalleled economic & financial hardship, than it is to ensure that the salaries of people like Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Rahman continue to be paid, as the recently and hastily appointed chairman of Prasarana Malaysia Berhad?

Surely shareholder dividends and director emoluments are the lowest possible concern at this time, where Malaysians are digging into their already-tight pockets to ensure that other Malaysians don’t go hungry or uncared for when they are inevitably left in the lurch by the slow march of the bureaucratic machine as it responds to the greatest threat to public health and the economy that we’ve seen in a generation?

A Rapid Rail employee inspects a 4-car monorail to ensure it’s ready to take passengers safely

Surely, if the political appointees this Government has placed into countless government-linked companies donated their GLC salaries to the COVID-19 fund, there’d be enough slush left in there to ensure the people don’t get burdened unnecessarily?

Or, do the interests of the few outweigh those of the many in this “democratically appointed” Government?

The solution here is clear. Ridership needs to be improved and dramatically at that, and there is no better time to do so like the present. With Malaysians concerned over financial security and personal cashflow, it is the most prudent time to make our public transport system the viable, reliable, affordable alternative to personal travel that it should always have been. And if we take this economic regression and pandemic as an opportunity to shore up confidence in the public transport system, the benefits will be reaped for years to come.

The author, Aiman I. Abdullah, is a motoring journalist and editor with more than half a decade’s experience in both local & international automotive media spheres, and is an ardent supporter of affordable, accessible, and comprehensive public transport networks.

He can be found on social media @AimanIAbdullah on Twitter & Instagram, where he enjoys engaging in intelligent discourse in his personal capacity.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author; They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Publication, its Affiliates, its Parent Company or its Subsidiaries.

Disclaimer: Any reproduction of this article or any of its contents are only permitted with the express permission of the Managing Editor of MalaysianMotoring. Failure to comply will result in legal action.

As always, MalaysianMotoring would like to remind its readers to be safe out there, both on the road and off it. Our success depends on our responsibility to ourselves and each other – our nation depends on it.We thank you for staying home, and staying safe.

#KitaJagaKita

Volvo vs The World – What That Means In Malaysia

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It wasn’t that long ago that Swedish marque Volvo was considered a sideliner in the Malaysian automotive landscape. While its German opposition sold in vast numbers, the little Swede was just that – little. It sold enough cars to keep the showrooms & service centres going with no compromise in quality, and profits were most certainly there, just meagre. If Malaysia didn’t have the advantage of having a fully-fledged Volvo factory in Shah Alam, we’d probably have to deal with 2-3 year delays on new models too.

But things have changed for Volvo. Since its takeover by Chinese automotive giant Geely, who quickly realised it was best to let the Swedes do their thing rather than PRC the crap out of it, the company has been going from strength-to-strength in recent years globally, and even locally. 

Pekin Auto’s new Volvo dealership, on the fringes of Johor Bharu

It was just the other day that we reported on our social media channels the upcoming opening of a new dealership on the outskirts of Johor Bharu, the 13th such dealership in Malaysia with many more set to come throughout 2019. This is all part of Volvo’s local office’s strategy to focus on the customer experience & dealer network, and already, “internal polls are showing positive results thanks to improvements made in these two key areas.”

We experienced this for ourselves at the opening of the AJ Premium Motors dealership in Batu Pahat, where we saw Volvo’s new showroom design language and brand ethos in full swing. From the intimately-professional conduct of its staff to its Scandinavian-chic design, you could tell that Volvo was serious about its transformation into a brand that could well and truly rival the German stalwarts. And the proof was in the pudding, with an increase in local sales for Volvo rising in excess of 60%.

But there is something else to it, too.

The other day I had the opportunity to sample the 2019 Mercedes-Benz C300 AMG-Line in its facelifted form, with its air suspension & Multibeam LED headlights and the like. It was a nice car no doubt, with its sculpted seats and fancy twin-screen COMAND system, but what really caught my eye was the wood trim. A black, open-pore Ash, it looked stunning on the centre console ‘slide’ and the door panels. But when I looked closer, I noticed something a little odd.

While the centre console and driver’s door panels featured black ash wood with ‘striped’ graining, the front passenger’s door had a more ‘circular’ grain. Of course, anyone will tell you that no tree grows in a mirror grain and that to achieve such a pattern would cost so much in time and effort, but it was the sort of thing that wrankled the experience a bit. It left me thinking if the 64-colour configurable ambient lighting system was made to distract me from what I would consider an oversight.

Look at how beautifully aligned all that wood trim is

But what really bothered me throughout my week with the C300 was the recollection of every Volvo Inscription I’d driven in recent years. From the XC60 to the S90 & V90, all the way up to the gargantuan XC90 – they’d all had matching, mirror-aligned wood finishes. On the centre console beneath the 9-inch Sensus touchscreen, it would meet in a beautiful V-formation on the inward-curved panel, and it created an effect of sheer quality and attention to detail. 

Volvo doesn’t scream and shout about this sort of thing. They just do it and let you be amazed.

Motoring journo veteran Chris Wee is also a former Volvo staffer, and he’s recalled multiple times the tagline they used to tout: “Bums in seats sell cars.” I’ve often heard relatives of mine, devoted to the Volvo brand, repeat something similar. ‘Volvo for Life’ was the tagline for many years, and for them, it meant that once you buy into a Volvo you’ll never buy anything else. 

A granduncle of mine bought his first Volvo in 2003, an S80. He proceeded to then buy the facelifted S80, and then the final-generation S80, and I believe that not long from now he’ll take the plunge and buy an S90. Volvo for life, indeed.

But there are greater ramifications to Volvo’s continued rise in Malaysia. For starters, the Malaysians who toil day-in and day-out to build Iron Mark-ed cars in Shah Alam will continue to be trained and re-trained to build better and better cars every day, keeping up with their peers the world over. Soon there will likely be more of them – with the locally-assembled Volvo XC40 compact SUV (which we will be reviewing soon) the first model in the brand’s history to attract a waiting list in Malaysia, we can only imagine that Volvo Car Malaysia is on the hunt for innovations and improvements that’ll improve their production speed & capacity.

The upcoming Volvo S60, already confirmed for our market

But it also means that they will soon be the standard-bearers not only for active safety in modern luxury cars, but also in quality of execution. With more Volvos taking to the roads, visibility of the brand is increasing. With improved visibility comes improved interest, which turns into more walk-in customers in showrooms, who will then put their bums in Swedish seats and experience what it’s like to have a Volvo in the family.

It doesn’t help the competition either that Volvo’s leasing programs are so attractive. 

Soon, it’ll be within reason that people will stop visiting the German showrooms by default, and place Volvo as a brand alongside them as they consider their next luxury car. Plug-in hybrid buyers will be the first to make that change I reckon, with Volvos still the only brand available locally that integrates its hybrid systems so seamlessly that it leaves no practical impact on the packaging of the car. And when they start doing that, I guarantee I will not be the only one going ‘Hey, wasn’t the wood in the Volvo nicer?’

It’s worth keeping this in mind, particularly if you’re from a rival manufacturer, that you also don’t have knurled aluminium finishes for the starter switch, volume dials, and drive-mode selectors. You also don’t have gorgeous yellow Kevlar cones hiding behind laser-cut speaker grilles (like Volvo does with their Bowers & Wilkins systems), or a cacophony of almost-orchestratic beeps & bongs to warn you that you left your lights on, a door ajar, or that you might not have shut the boot properly. 

And at the time of writing, the mainstream rivals also don’t offer half of the advanced driver assistance systems that come on every new Volvo as standard. If Malaysians opened their eyes a bit further and stopped worrying about resale value, the Germans would be slaughtered by now.

But mercifully, us Malaysians are a brand-conscious bunch, and so this will buy a few more years for the competition to buck up and rightfully claim that they’re ‘as good as.’ 

Editorial: Why A Rolls-Royce?

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It’s a surprisingly common question, though you’d have to be pretty privileged to be able to ask it. Indeed, when I find myself behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz S-Class (an opportunity I must admit is afforded to me only because of my bloody awesome job), I too sometimes ask what the point is of spending so. much. more. money. in order to have the Spirit of Ecstasy guide my way.

I have owned an (older) S-Class and, once again thanks to my job, I’ve found myself behind the wheel of several Rolls-Royces in the past. For fairness I will talk about the smaller, ‘more accessible’ Rolls-Royce Ghost which so many like to point out is actually a BMW 7-Series beneath, as that would be the closest comparison to the superlative Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Audi A8, Jaguar XJ, and indeed the big 7er.

Yes, any of the aforementioned big limousines are excellent at separating you from the outside world. You are surrounded by double-glazed glass, fastidiously-polished veneer, and leather so soft it makes you wonder what skincare routine they subject these German (or sometimes English) cows to. You are often bombarded with the very latest technology that the industry can offer like AI-powered driver-assistance technology, the highest-fidelity audio systems, and more digital screens than your living room. They live up to their function as the pinnacle of the range, the culmination of whatever their respective parent companies can manage.

But, in a Rolls-Royce… 

A family photograph at the home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, England

A Rolls-Royce isn’t so much the best that Goodwood can manage, but it represents the very best that the entire motoring industry has managed up to that point, and it’s all tuned only to soothe, to relax, to isolate. While the ’S’ in ’S-Class’ may very well stand for ‘Superior’ (it doesn’t but let’s glaze over that quickly), a Rolls-Royce doesn’t need to remind you of its superiority. Where everything else must inform the masses of its opulence and grandeur, a Rolls-Royce simply is. It doesn’t even tap you on the shoulder to make way for its greatness – you make way for it just because you know, intrinsically, that you should.

Driving a Rolls-Royce Ghost, the ‘approachable’ Rolls-Royce I should mention, makes you feel immediately that you have arrived. Even when you’ve just borrowed one from your friend who really should leave his chequebook out when you come round, the Rolls-Royce lends you the stiff upper lip you need to pull it off convincingly. Instead of seeing a cabin festooned with buttons and technology like you would in a BMW 7-Series, you just get an analogue clock, acres of what used to be trees, and you’re sat on what used to be one of perhaps eight bulls have given their lives for your comfort. 

Hang on, I hear you saying. Did you say bulls rather than cows? Doesn’t leather come from cows?

Yes they do, my keenly observant friend. But Rolls-Royce doesn’t use hide from cows because cows get pregnant, and since we have not yet turned the page where it’s not okay to body shame livestock, pregnancy causes stretchmarks, which are not acceptable to adorn the passenger compartment of a Rolls-Royce. So they use bull hide because bulls, well, you get the picture.

This is the world a Rolls-Royce, any Rolls-Royce, presents to you. They don’t need you to know that they skin bulls, not cows, to appoint your cabin because all they need you to do is appreciate how soft, supple, and flawless the leather is. They don’t need you to know that a small clearing has been made in a sustainable, renewable forest in order to ensure the tops of your doors and the face of your dash feature the colour, texture, and grain that befits a product that rolls out of Goodwood. All you need to know is that, when you have left your office where you head some multinational multi-billion Ringgit business, you can find refuge in the rear of your Rolls-Royce where between the bustle of work and the adventures of home, you can gather your thoughts and prepare yourself for what lies ahead in absolute, perhaps even extreme comfort.

So the next time you find yourself asking, from the seat of your S-Class or 7-Series or XJ or A8 why anyone in their right mind would spend more money on anything but, I hope you find my answer satisfactory.

If you must ask, then a Rolls-Royce is not for you. It’s something you understand not in your head, but in your heart, in your veins. Venture into a Bentley perhaps if you have far too much money burning a hole in your pocket but a Rolls-Royce, is not for you.