The 2023 Perodua Axia manual will be released after the Hari Raya – could the base MT be a transitional product under RM25k?

Today’s official announcement of 2023 Perodua Axia raised a question or two between some industry watchers and perhaps one or two people who like petrol. I say some, because most Malaysians would be well served by Four variants are offeredand won’t be able to miss a cheap product but kosong Axia E with manual transmission.

Unless you run a driving school. If that’s the case, don’t worry, because the “driving school specs” Axia with paddle shifters isn’t dead yet, even if it won’t be available at next month’s D74A launch. At the prospect event for 2023 today, Perodua President and CEO Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Ahmad announced that it will continue to produce the Axia manual transmission.

“Rest assured, we will still produce handmade cars for driving schools, don’t worry,” he said, adding that the Axia MT is expected to appear after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri festival, takes place in April. “In fact, I think driving schools will love it – same car, good specs, maybe cheaper. Perodua will continue to manufacture handmade Axias,” he added.

Cheaper price? It’s not easy to make a new model cheaper, especially when it sits on a new, more secure and complex platform (DNGA). This upcoming Axia MT could be a variant of Axia go instead of D74A with a lever? Zainal’s next comment may contain further hints.

“I mentioned six or seven models a while ago, now we have six (Axia, Bezza, Myvi, Ativa, Alza, Aruz), the Axia MT is the last one. Axia MT that we are working on, we plan to launch it after Hari Raya. There are some modifications,” he said.

It is unlikely that a variant with a different transmission will be classified as a separate model, which could indicate that the base MT vehicle is a transfer vehicle, albeit modified. We may have read too much into the words of the head of P2, but Perodua has done it before.

Back when the Viva – a Kancil replacement – ​​was introduced, the flawed final version of the Kancil continued to be sold alongside the Viva as a cheaper model for basic driving needs. The upcoming Axia MT will play the same role today with a sub RRP of RM25k (price The launch price of Axia E 2019 is RM24,090)? Perodua says there’s demand for the basic Axia MT beyond driving school use, though not as much as for better-specified variants. We shall see. For now, full details on Brand new Axia is here.