This week, the Malaysian minister of investment, trade and industry Johari Abdul Ghani met together with his Japanese counterpart, parliamentary vice-minister of economy, trade and industry Takuo Komori, in an effort to strengthen longstanding economic relations between the 2 countries. While these talks aren’t often of interest to automotive media, one in every of the topics mentioned did pique our curiosity.
In his Facebook post, Johari said that the duo broached the topic of a “Daihatsu-Perodua partnership in developing electric vehicles in Malaysia.” While we’re after all not aware of the small print of what they discussed, those within the know will inform you that there is no such thing as a such partnership in existence – no less than, not publicly, not yet.
It’s because while Daihatsu is a serious Perodua shareholder and has supplied platforms, engines, gearboxes and even entire cars throughout the latter’s 33 years in existence, the national carmaker’s recent EV, the QV-E, was designed wholly in-house and doesn’t share a single part with any Daihatsu.
Perodua shouldered the responsibility of the complete project out of necessity, partly attributable to the looming government deadline to launch a locally-badged EV. Mostly, nevertheless, it was because Daihatsu didn’t have an EV for the corporate to base its automotive on. That’s still the case today – in reality, Daihatsu hardly even produces any hybrids, with the one offering being the Rocky e-Smart Hybrid (yes, the identical one which became the lease-only Ativa Hybrid).
Which makes talk of a partnership all of the more intriguing, and it could lead on to one in every of two outcomes. The primary is that Daihatsu simply rebadges the QV-E as its own automotive, which isn’t out of the unusual – in any case, the Sirion in Indonesia is effectively a Myvi with D badges, plus it’s built here in addition.
A Japanese brand using EV tech from Malaysia sounds far-fetched at face value, nevertheless it is sensible since the small automotive specialist’s lack of electrified models leaves it vulnerable to competition from Chinese EV makers. That’s less of an issue in its home market, where its offerings are on the smaller side, playing to its strengths; its customers’ more traditional buying habits also mean it will probably stave off full electrification for some time longer.
It’s more of a difficulty in Daihatsu’s largest overseas market in Indonesia, where the corporate risks losing market share to rivals like BYD. With the its high local content, the QV-E would profit from reduced taxes as a part of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), even when it won’t be offered the identical incentives as CKD locally-assembled EVs.
The opposite possibility is that Daihatsu may very well be a participant in Perodua’s future EV development, and indeed the said possibility was raised by Perodua president and CEO Zainal Abidin Ahmad earlier this 12 months. “We’ve done the EV ourselves. But we’ve gotten enquiries from them to affix us in our EV development,” he said then, adding that even Toyota has offered the corporate a probability to construct its EVs.
Remember, Toyota’s own EVs were the results of joint ventures with other carmakers, equivalent to Subaru (bZ4X and its derivatives, including even the Lexus RZ) and Suzuki (Urban Cruiser). Securing Toyota and Daihatsu as clients – the coed becoming the master, you possibly can say – can be a serious coup for Perodua, each as a method to extend exports and as vindication of its efforts to construct its own EV from scratch.
“When you ask me, the educational process is admittedly expensive, and it’s hard for us to get well 100% of the investment, unlike how we do it with ICE cars. But I feel pleased with our those who we are able to develop a automotive and that it has opened their [Daihatsu and Toyota] eyes, and so they’re now talking about collaboration,” Zainal said.
We do know that Perodua is working on a smaller A-segment model built on the identical Magna Styer-developed EV platform because the QV-E, which might help amortise development costs and enable it to tackle the Proton eMas 5. A Daihatsu and Toyota EV built on this architecture could provide the 2 corporations with inexpensive models of their very own; plus, their input may help resolve our single biggest gripe with the QV-E – its cheap-feeling interior.
Over to you now – are you excited in regards to the prospect of a Perodua wearing a Daihatsu (or perhaps a Toyota) badge? Tell us within the comments.
GALLERY: Perodua QV-E
Seeking to sell your automotive? Sell it with Carro for the very best price.
This Article First Appeared At paultan.org
