Perodua: Current Bezza Remains, New One Still “A Few Years Away”

The next-gen Perodua Bezza compact sedan could look like either one of these winning designs from the recently concluded ACSDC 2023.

At the recently concluded Asian Compact Sedan Design Challenge 2023 (ACSDC 2023) awards ceremony, national carmaker Perodua says that the next generation replacement of its Bezza compact sedan will underpin a winning design from said competition.

Moreover, Perodua Vice President Datuk Ahmad Suhaimi Hashim confirmed that development work for said new generation compact sedan is already underway. However, the exec underlined that the new generation Bezza is still “a few years away” from debuting.

Perodua Vice President Datuk Ahmad Suhaimi Hashim at the ACSDC 2023 awards ceremony. During his opening speech, the exec confirmed that development work for the new Bezza is already underway.

“This product development process is still on the ‘drawing board’ stage and would not materialise any time soon,” adds said the exec in his opening speech during the ACSDC 2023 prize giving ceremony held earlier today.

“We are looking for a full model change of our Bezza in the future and this design competition is part of the product development process as we consider various ideas to integrate into a full model change,” continued Datuk Ahmad Suhaimi.

The current-gen Bezza in 1.3AV form pictured. It appears the Bezza will continue in its current form for a few more years at least.

An imaginative render of the next-gen Bezza based on the current new DNGA-based Axia by Theottle.

Effectively, the exec has more or less confirmed that the current Bezza model will solider on as is. Presently, said compact sedan stands as Perodua’s best-seller, and it contributes quite a sizeable share to Perodua’s recent Q3 2023 sales figures where over 40,000 units were delivered in 1H of 2023.

Despite being a top-seller, the Bezza is also perhaps Perodua ‘oldest’ offering that’s still on sale. The compact sedan last underwent a major update and facelift in early 2020. During which, the Bezza received a host of styling changes, as well as a host of new tech including basic ADAS features.

The Bezza first entered production in 2016, and underwent a major facelift in early 2020.

Mechanically, things stood unchanged as lower-end guises continue to feature an Axia-derived 1.0-litre 3-cyl petrol mill powering its baseline 1.0G automatic and manual variants, whereas the mid-spec 1.3X and range-topping 1.3AV variants feature a 1.3-litre 4-cyl petrol mill instead.

1.0G manual variant aside, the 1.0G automatic, mid-spec 1.3X, and 1.3AV range-topper continue to harness a 4-speed automatic box instead of Perodua’s newer D-CVT box primed in the Myvi, new Axia, Alza, and Ativa.

Despite using older powertrain tech still, the Bezza’s highly accessible and affordable pricing perhaps stand as yet another driver to its continued popularity. Presently, the Bezza’s price figures range between RM34,580 and RM49,980.