Perodua’s next compact sedan will feature a more ASEAN-oriented design. This is according to company president and chief executive office Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad, who spoke in a press conference at the Asian Compact Sedan Design Competition (ACSDC 2023), as reported by NST.

Perodua has only ever offered one compact sedan, and that is the Bezza which has been around since July 2016 – it got a facelift in January 2020. At the event, Zainal said planning for a complete redesign of the Bezza would likely start from now for a complete model change in two or three years.

The Axia got a full model change (FMC) this February and made the switch to the Daihatsu New Global Architecture (DNGA), which the next Bezza is expected to use as well. For a bit of history, the first-generation Axia debuted well ahead of the Bezza in September 2014.

To gather inspiration for a design that speaks to the ASEAN market, Perodua collaborated with the Malaysian Design Council (MRM) to organise ACSDC 2023 to promote good design and stimulate competitiveness among car designers.

Open to participants from ASEAN countries, the competition is divided into two categories: university students and professional designers. Zainal said widening participation will allow the infusion of ideas from different parts of the region to be adopted in the design of Perodua’s next car.

The competition will span seven months until eight contestants are shortlisted, following which the finalists will develop a full-scale model and present the design thinking behind each design. Over RM100,000 worth of prizes and incentives await the finalists.