The all-new Perodua Alza is coming and the company is making sure supply is strong.
The Perodua Alza has been going strong for a very long time. The first Alza ever debuted in late 2009 and was given very minor updates throughout its life and is still on sale today with no competition at its price point ever since Proton stopped selling the Suzuki-made Ertiga. That being said, even Perodua know they can’t keep pushing a 13 year old product. Which is why there’s so much buzz around the 2nd generation model, which will be based on the Daihatsu Xenia, also known as the Toyota Veloz.
This week, excitement around the new Perodua MPV reached new highs as a low resolution video from the Perodua factory vehicle storage area leaked onto the internet showing rows of the new Alza. Most of the excitement around this leaked footage was around the fact that it looked like two different versions were being produced, pointing towards contract assembly at the Sungai Choh plant for the Toyota Veloz. This would make sense, as the same situation occurred with the Perodua Aruz and Toyota Rush.
To us, the real story is just how much of a buffer Perodua is putting up in anticipation of the product launch. Since the economy reopened, there have been loads of car launches locally but many manufacturers have just not been able to keep up with demand. It looks like Perodua are doing the responsible thing of producing a whole bunch of vehicles in anticipation of the massive number of bookings it will receive. Are they being too optimistic about the demand? We don’t think so.
There will always be a market for 7-seater compact MPVs in Malaysia. Even something like the Mitsubishi Xpander, which arrived in Malaysia 2-3 years behind the rest of ASEAN managed to prop Mitusbishi Motors Malaysia up to the no.3 spot for non-national carmakers recently.
Personally, I’m going to mourn the passing of the first generation Alza being an owner of one myself. It represents the last of a simpler breed of vehicles that didn’t require aggressive looks, two-tone rims, chrome or glossy black plastic to sell. It kept everything basic and delivered pleasant everyday motoring for years and years. Well, everything moves forward and the new Alza will indeed bring some advancements to the segment for not a lot of money.
