New Perodua Viva

After much fanfare of spy-shots, scoops and media embargo, this is the final unveiled 'new' product coming from Perodua, Malaysia's second national car manufacturer. In the built up to the launch yesterday, it was much talked and claimed to be THE one-for-all replacemant model for its ultra-bargain basement 660cc, 850cc Kancil AND the 1,000cc Kelisa.

However - and dissapointingly so - Perodua too has taken the route of Proton in maintaining a super-ageing model, the Kancil to soldier as a true entry-level car - citing inablity to keep manufacturing cost low enough (even for a 660cc variant?) for the Viva to be super-affordable. The cheapest Kancil 660cc is about RM22k, last quoted at a dealer showroom. Gosh! That's about RM6k - or roughly 27% - hike for this super-base model! No wonder Perodua has been quick to add that Viva "isn't Kancil's replacement"...and cleverly so.

Truth be told, this is a rebadged model based on the LAST model Daihatsu Mira (read: predecessor) and not the real McCoy currently on sale in Japan.

Prices after the picture below, please judge for yourself whether this is a truly value-for-money national car, despite the seemingly low-ish price tags.

Variants and Prices (OTR with insurance):

Perodua Viva 660cc MT Solid: RM28,400
Perodua Viva 660cc MT Metallic: RM28,800
Perodua Viva 850cc MT Solid: RM32,500
Perodua Viva 850cc MT Metallic: RM32,900
Perodua Viva 1000cc MT Solid: RM36,800
Perodua Viva 1000cc MT Metallic: RM37,200
Perodua Viva 1000cc AT Solid: RM39,800
Perodua Viva 1000cc AT Metallic: RM40,200
Perodua Viva 1000cc Premium MT Solid: RM40,800
Perodua Viva 1000cc Premium MT Metallic: RM41,200
Perodua Viva 1000cc Premium AT Solid: RM43,800
Perodua Viva 1000cc Premium AT Metallic: RM44,200

*For more comprehensive infos, you are better off here:
http://paultan.org/archives/2007/05/11/new-perodua-viva-full-details-photos-and-price/
Or here:
http://www.motortrader.com.my/NUS/articles/article_932/page_m.asp

*Many motoring enthusiasts have complained to For Wheels about Perodua's website being inaccesible as of 11th May 2007.