FINALLY, at 8.20pm on Wednesday March 3rd, 2021, Perodua unveiled their latest product, the Ativa compact crossover, with prices ranging from RM61,500 to RM72,000, on-the-road before insurance in Peninsular Malaysia.
The Perodua Ativa crossover was officially unveiled by Perodua Chairman Tan Sri Asmat Kamaludin via a digital premiere that began at 8pm and with more than 5,000 bookings in hand already, this is going to be the biggest rival to the recently launched Proton X50 crossover which is priced at almost 20% more.
Why, well, the X50 which is a little larger and with a slightly more powerful engine, has been having delivery issues since its launch late last year and also after sales speed bumps, which Proton management have come out and said that they are working hard to quickly improve.
Perodua, meanwhile is ready to start delivering the first 5,000 cars and with their well oiled after sales machinery around the country and a committed 95% local content promise with every Ativa, there should be no ownership hiccup at all.
The Ativa is Perodua’s first turbocharged vehicle, its first to use a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) and its first to satisfy Autonomous Driving Level 2 standards, besides being the most affordable vehicle in Malaysia to do so.
These technologies contribute to a class-leading rated fuel efficiency of 18.9 km/l, making it Perodua’s fifth Energy-Efficient Vehicle (EEV).
Debuting on the Perodua Ativa is Advanced Safety Assist (ASA) 3.0, which is standard across the range for the first time. ASA 3.0 works at higher speeds (up to 120 km/h for vehicles, up to 60 km/h for pedestrians) versus the current ASA 2.0, and can now detect two-wheeled vehicles as well as function at night.
Also on all variants are six airbags, automatic LED headlamps with Auto High Beam, plus Lane Departure Warning and Prevention. H and AV variants get Adaptive Driving Beam, a seven-inch TFT multi-info display and a nine-inch touch-screen infotainment system with voice recognition, while the top AV exclusively gets Lane Keep Control, Blind Spot Monitor, Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Adaptive Cruise Control.
With the Ativa now part of the Perodua family, the national car manufacturer expects to buy a total of RM6.5 billion worth of components from Malaysian suppliers this year which will boost the economy and keep valuable automotive jobs in place.
Watch this space for the detailed test drive review in coming weeks. - The Vibes, March 4, 2021