We look back at renderings of a Myvi Sedan by Theo Chin from when the current Myvi hatch was shown.
I was clearing my email inbox the other day when I came across some photo attachments from Singapore-based Malaysian car rendering wiz Theo Chin (IG, Youtube, TikTok). They were renderings of a Myvi sedan based on the pre-facelifted variant of the Myvi. It made me wonder why Perodua had refused to go down the route of challenging the Proton Persona at all, instead focusing on taking on the Proton Saga with their own Axia-based Bezza.
Primarily, I think it was a dollars and cents decision – and one that has worked out for the company and their investors. The Bezza has recently overtaken the Myvi to be their best-selling nameplate and it’s no surprise as many Malaysians look to take on ride-hailing to boost household income. While closely related to the Axia, the Bezza is different enough to be counted as a completely distinct vehicle. For one, there is no Daihatsu or Toyota engineered equivalent at all while the Axia has the Daihatsu Ayla and Toyota Agya to fall back on for technical know-how. The Bezza is also available with a 1.3L engine where the Axia is not. Finally, the Bezza is still built on the 1st generation Axia’s underpinnings while the new Axia has already moved on to the more advanced Daihatsu New Global Architecture and D-CVT.
A second reason is related to the above – the Myvi doesn’t sit on DNGA underpinnings. At the time, Perodua should have already been briefed by Toyota and Daihatsu on the arrival of this new platform and decided to stop further development of this older chassis.
The third reason Perodua probably decided not to create a sedan version is because they probably wanted to focus on crossovers and SUVs as these are supplanting the sedan in popularity globally. Right after the Myvi was shown, we got the Aruz and then the Ativa. This too was probably the right move.
Having said all this, I don’t think a Myvi sedan should be completely out of the picture for Perodua. For the longest time, Perodua have only had to fend off the Proton Persona in that segment and they may have decided to leave it be. However they’ve now got a Proton S70 to also fend off and it’s a serious threat. Why? Well, the S70’s base variant is just 23% more expensive than the top spec Myvi while having 45% more horsepower and 65% more torque. Of course, the base S70 lacks a lot of equipment but it still comes with 6 airbags and the perceived quality is undeniably high. It won’t sway budget-constrained Perodua buyers but many buyers will notice the gap in value.
So while we missed out on a Myvi sedan for this generation, I think Perodua should definitely look add a boot as an option for a future DNGA-based Myvi. That being said, their R&D could be tied up in making an electric vehicle or a hybrid so maybe another sedan is just not in the cards.
