Local Tier-1 automotive supplier MCE Holdings has announced it has secured RM54.28 million in supply contracts with Perodua, valid for 40 months or three years.
The corporate said it would provide various automotive electronics and mechatronic components – resembling audio display, reverse camera and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) related components – for an internal combustion engine (ICE) model.
Production is ready to start via subsidiary Multi-Code Electronics Industries within the fourth quarter of the financial yr ending July 31, 2027, translating to the second quarter of the subsequent calendar yr. The components can be built on the group’s newly-launched RM4.95 million MCE Auto Hub in Serendah, Selangor.
The project will mark the firm’s first time supplying vehicle audio display and ADAS-related components for an ICE vehicle, adding to its contract to offer such components for the QV-E EV. This broadens its “portfolio of higher-value components and systems,” it said.
“Our long-standing relationship with Perodua has given us the chance to grow alongside them, enabling MCE to progressively tackle more sophisticated products, construct our design and manufacturing capabilities and move up the automotive value chain,” said group managing director Goh Kar Chun.
Supply contracts are nothing recent, in fact, and neither are suppliers breaking news a couple of national carmaker’s future product. Nevertheless it’s the timing that’s barely amiss, since it suggests there can be no recent models produced this yr – although we will afford to chop it some slack, provided that it launched two all-new cars last yr, the QV-E and Traz.
As for which model this recent one can be, we will only consider two. The present Myvi and Bezza are eight and ten years old respectively, and the subsequent generations of each have been speculated on for a while. Of those two, the Myvi appears to be the one most in need of a refresh, provided that the Bezza stays Malaysia’s hottest automobile.
A teaser for the brand new model was shown on the Kuala Lumpur International Mobility Show (KLIMS), showing some QV-E-inspired design cues. Given the age of either of the possible predecessors, we were expecting it to be launched this yr, however the relaxed timeline shows Perodua is in no hurry to debut it, although it’s losing market share to a resurgent Proton.
The likeliest recent model is the Myvi – the fourth-generation model, codenamed D10D, should help propel the nameplate back up the sales standings. The previous longtime best-seller sat in fourth as of last month, behind the Bezza, the Proton Saga and the smaller Axia. It’s set to utilise an updated version of the third-gen platform, itself related to the second-gen model.
A next-gen Bezza isn’t expected to reach before the tip of the last decade, but a significant facelift should tide buyers over. Just like the Saga’s recent MC3 revision, the budget sedan could see some serious updates, including the much-needed six airbags. A facelift would also make sense given MCE’s truncated contract period – three years would supply Perodua as much as 2030, which is bang on when the subsequent Bezza is purported to arrive.
Speaking of the contract, the revelation that this unknown model is using the identical infotainment and ADAS supplier because the fully homegrown QV-E suggests that Perodua is taking greater control of those systems.
Currently, the corporate’s ICE models take their driver assists from Daihatsu, whereas the systems within the QV-E were developed in house, very similar to many of the automobile. As Perodua gains more experience in developing its own indigenous models, we could thoroughly see a degree through which the one parts Daihatsu supplies to the corporate is the engine and gearbox.
Whichever form this recent automobile takes, it would almost definitely proceed to utilise the Toyota/Daihatsu NR range of four-cylinder engines, offered in 95 PS 1.3 litre 1NR-VE and 103 PS 1.5 litre 2NR-VE guises and paired with a Dual-Mode CVT (D-CVT).
Perodua also has aspirations to bring hybrid powertrains to market, and this recent model could possibly be the proper springboard. It could use either Daihatsu’s e-Smart Hybrid – which uses the electrical motor for propulsion and the combustion engine solely as a generator – or Toyota’s system from the Vios and Yaris Cross that encompasses a planetary gearset to administer the 2 power sources. The forthcoming Ativa Hybrid will likely lead the automobile in bringing a petrol-electric powertrain to market, nonetheless.
This Article First Appeared At paultan.org
