It’s said that traditionally, Malaysian motorists prefer sedans over hatchbacks. It isn’t all the sedan’s way, though, as two of Malaysia’s best-selling models – the Perodua Myvi and Axia – are hatchbacks.
With the introduction of the Perodua Bezza, the brand now has a sedan option – consumers can now choose between two distinct body styles. It’s the same with Proton too, with the impending arrival of the 2016 Persona, which is essentially an Iriz with a boot.
So, which one is ideal for you, sedan or hatchback? Let’s take a look at the major differences, plus the pros and cons of each option.
Boot/Accomodation
In terms of load-carrying capacity, a sedan usually trumps a hatchback for absolute boot space. The Perodua Bezza has a 508 litre boot, almost double that of the Axia, which, at 260 litres, is already more roomy than the Myvi (208 litres). The same goes for the Honda City too, which holds 536 litres compared to the Jazz‘s 363 litre boot.
But, at the same time, the hatchback counters with a more practical and flexible cargo configuration, which can make way for larger, bulkier-than-usual items. The tailgate aperture is wider than the equivalent sedan’s. So, while the sedan may be able to swallow more travel bags, a hatchback may be more useful for a trip to Ikea.
On the flipside, the sedan is the one to have if one has to transport passengers and considerable luggage simultaneously. Privacy is a consideration, too, as some hatchbacks aren’t equipped with a parcel shelf, leaving the contents of the luggage compartment exposed to outside eyes.
With a sedan, the boot is also separated from the passenger cabin, so you’ll hear less of it moving about – important for those with sensitive ears. It’s definitely a better way to keep the durian smell at bay too!
Styling
Aesthetics is a subjective thing, of course. But it’s commonly agreed among Malaysians that the sedan body-style is the more traditional choice, while the hatchback lends itself more towards the younger and more trendy set. In the case of the Bezza and Axia, it’s clear that the sedan has a more mature design, compared to the sportier hatch. The Honda City and Jazz have similar differing approaches too.
Recently, more and more sedan models are being built off an existing hatchback structure. Some brands manage this fundamental limitation rather well (Honda City, and to a certain extent, the Perodua Bezza too), while others, less so (Ford Fiesta and Mazda 2 sedans).
The Drive
Given an otherwise identical sedan and hatchback pairing, the latter tends to be the easier of the two to manoeuvre, especially in tighter confines; the rear of the hatchback ends where the rear window is, which makes it easier to judge the car’s extremities.
As for performance and handling, well, that’s not strictly tied to the type of body-styles. More notable difference may come from the fine-tuning of the chassis setup, which may be different from model to model. The Ford Focus sedan, for instance, is deliberately tuned to be softer than the hatch, which is an exception rather than the rule.
So, back to you, dear readers. What do you think of this? What swayed your purchase from sedan to hatchback, or vice versa? Let us know in the comments section below.
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dun hav such a big family if u can only afford a bezza
How is this so Semi? Most work as kerani in Government departments. Gaji only Rm1200 but they got 6 or 7 kids. So what to do like this?
Gomen ade subsidi. Lagi duit kopi.
meaning that you want bezza have 7 seaters?
Asal jangan tak laku macam Civic turbo. Ready stok dan buat discount sudah
Not only Civic Turbo, Civic 1.8 oso dying, worst 2016 design, worst cheap interior, & worst 2016 c segment performance.
Even got discount u also can’t afford any import car!
Ride your kapcai & don’t talk-kok lah!
kesian Civic… diskaun pun xde org nak
SEmi
I just visited a perodua showroom at 8pm…omg….still rajin collecting orders and attending to customers.SA said 2 months waiting period if u book now.
People are still streaming in to view the Bezza.
500 metres away is a Protong showroom.OMG….tutup already cos “PAK WU YING”…NO BUSINESS LANGSUNG.
The BEZA is Perodua Boleh.Proton Kena Bungkus.
The mus very malu.After dishing out rm1.5 B,sales at P1 is still going downhill.
Shambolic.
Yes, the load-carrying capacity is impressive. But driving with full load like that will definitely make the car ‘terjongkit’ on the road :)
I test drove the 1.3 advanced on saturday with 4 adults onboard and I can honestly say that its pretty smooth and has sufficient power to consider at least, overtaking someone. The start-stop system works like a charm. In fact it’s smoother than the last gen E-class’s system on startup.
Sedan is always the most practical choice amongst the family – most of us travel with lots of luggage especially during holiday making the sedan with more boot space more sensible.. so Bezza for me should I want to buy one
Nope. Wagons are the most practical choice. You’ve got the easy access and flexibility of a hatchback, but with much more space.
B segment wagon:
http://i.auto-bild.de/ir_img/1/2/1/4/5/3/9/Skoda-Fabia-Combi-560×373-51ef4bc16a3d0b2d.jpg
And given the spy shot of the Saga wagon, Proton is working on one of these.
Bro.. I agree on the wagon being the most practical choice but for now, they have to settle for sedan until Proton launches the wagon. And given Proton’s track record, not sure if it’ll be successful as Perodua. There’s a reason why Bezza succeed and Saga flopped
Family who want to get bezza, better go and get alza. Not so much difference in loan payment. Its a wagon after all. Can carry a lot of thing, and carry 7 people sometimes.
On what basis you said Bezza succeed and Saga flopped?
We need the boot to store durians! We don’t want the smell get into the cabin. ;)
I never like any car below 160 hp. especially those small capacity without turbo-charging or supercharge.
Turbo Civic no less huh? Hehehe..
I never like any car above 160hp especially those with turbo-charging or supercharge that come with automatic gearbox.
But can you afford car above 160hp?
From my point of view:
For Mercedes or other luxury conti cars, i never like any car below 160 hp. especially those small capacity without or lowly tuned turbo-charging or supercharge.
On the other hand, for Poodua, i never like any car above 70 hp especially those with cheaply modded one slapped with bodykits and stupid stickers with syok sendiri ‘Toyotaik’ or ‘Lexshit’ badge.
Why? Although i fancy those powerful cars, it MUST be accompanied with strong chassis frame as well as strong brakes and good handling and stability where most Poodua and entry level jepunis (aka sushi) cars are lacking.
160hp? That is around the 2.5L mill category for Petrol powered engines. From a 158hp Toyota Camry 2.5L to a 185hp Mazda 6 2.5L. You know you also have to consider weight, as bhp would really differ than hp. Plus, most vehicle that are equipped with 2.5L motors are D-segment and SUV so their hefty weight would be a disadvantage for power-to-weight ratio(bhp). On the other hand, a 1.3L 1NR-FE is actually enough to throttle the light and nimble vehicle which just weigh at 930kg(around 800kg for the 1.0L); but I really do hope they’d put in the more powerful 1.5L 2NR-FE for a new update as the Vios, 2 sedan, Fiesta sedan, Vento, City and Saga all have a bigger capacity and more powerful engine which helps a lot on full load carrier.
i always not understand why they always emphasize the boot space in small car? due to a small car? why not spend the space in cabin then the boot?
Cause people want to bring stuff with them too. Especially if you travel outstation. I met a young couple travelling 1500 km to their holiday destination in a Chevrolet Spark (yeah, that tiny thing from Transformers). They even bring a big keyboard along. Boot space matters… fortunately they are only 2, cause that car doesn’t really have a boot.
Because it is far cheaper to make a bigger boot than to make a bigger cabin.
Gets more “bang for the buck” so to speak.
As cars go, sedans are actually slightly less costly to build than their hatch equivalent due to the way the chassis is designed. A Hatch chassis needs to be much stronger to make up for the lack of the rear braces that the sedan has, and the trunk opening is smaller.
This also makes many of the hatch or “aeroback”/fastback cousins heavier.
C’mon guys, these 2 are not an ideal car at all at the first place. Safety that matters everything. dont put yourself & your family in danger.
People drive in Camry can also die(no pun intended Camry owners), now tell me what kind of safety that could save people who drive like maniac and filling all those emergency lanes and not give light signal when changing lanes? No matter what car people drive, it’s beaviour and attitude that needs to change.
Putting aside the fact that the Bezza has more room, keep it mind it has VSC, so you’re more likely to die in the Axia. Nuff said.
Only in the highest spec, at which it has reached Iriz price levels, which also has VSC.
Why do we have to buy crap like these?
Because it’s cheap? Not all people kaya like you. And not to mention my pipu force to buy this type of car. Not only p2, if you know what i mean.
by looking at myvi and alza real life collision..i wonder hows this model gonna look like.
Hatchback or sedan dun matter. Just shaddup and buy my Bisa. If u dun like Axia name, we will call it Bisa Hatchback just for u (but registration still name Axia). We r veri smart for separate naming of 2 versions from same car cuz nobody dare to persoal us, however when our big local competitor do the same different naming thing, our blind supporters will come bash them kau kau. Thats why we r so confident even when we do same bollocks, we can get away with it.
Unlike our older Axia (or Bisa Hatchback if u prefer) which we did road test before selling, now we straight went from prototype to showroom car cuz we have more confidence in our ability to rebadge and we oso have more confidence in our jepunis overlords technology. We have so much confidence that we dun need to test reliability and durability, that we r confident owners will not have any problems or if got, it must be user problem not us P2/jepunis overlords.
So buy my Bisa and be proud of becoming our lab rats to test our untested cars. We have confidence u will not have problems, otherwise we r confident it is ur problem not ours.
And remember dun persoal us for gip u deathtraps cuz it is u, not us, that made our sales No.1 in MY. So dun persoal us to gip what we confidently knows the pipu wants: confident reliable early afterlife with high RV.
If u buy from me now, I confident pau gip u bestest full complete end-to-end package with my fren from Nirvana. PM me now for this super limited offer! So have confidence in P2!
Just went to the showroom to have a look of the cars. I would go for Advance for its VSA.
Neither. I’m going for a big SUV next.
Saya ingin booking tahun 2018 Proton Saga
Bezza look big in picture but small in reality..
“It’s said that traditionally, Malaysian motorists prefer sedans over hatchbacks. It isn’t all the sedan’s way, though, as two of Malaysia’s best-selling models – the Perodua Myvi and Axia – are hatchbacks.”
I disagree. The reason why Myvi and Axia sell so well, is because they are well-equipped for their price. Make a similarly equipped sedan with the same price, and prepare to see the sedan roll of the showroom floor faster than the hatch.
Basically the Myvi and Axia’s success is every way to do with Protons’ failure.
Even with the market favouring sedans, the Myvi and Axia are best sellers….just to show what a colossal f up proton got itself into.
Not to mention, the sedan configuration is usually the more aerodynamic one leading to better fuel numbers if traveling a lot on highways. The sedan chassis is also usually stiffer (due to the rear braces) so it provides better ride and handling and NVH control.
But, I still prefer hatches mostly due to its;
1. Compact size for a daily driver (we have a bigger MPV for hauling people and things)
2. Utility – You can fit pretty large sized items in. Bicycles come to mind.
There are few of us that still like wagons for being able to haul like an MPV and drive like a car.. sadly ..due to some old fart’s thinking, they are not popular.
This year is indeed the ‘Revenge of the Sedan’. I bet more people will gravitate back to the sedan. The myvi started the hatchback revolution because a) that’s what they (P2) do best and b) because the products from the ‘competition’ was … you know lah.
I always wondered about my old Kancil… I kept thinking: Why spend money designing a 5th door when the boot space was only a few inches? The Axia has done a great job of solving this issue.
Actually I was on the verge of buying 1.5 se myvi already loan also approved and signed, then comes Bezza. Was a little troubled unsure which to choose but finally chose Bezza as sedan seems more mature and serious rather than hatchback that is more towards young and sporty. For a 23 years old and just started working, I guess I’d like to look more serious and mature. Then of course the eco idle and fuel saving factors come into consideration as well
so far the only thing that bothers me are Bezza’s door. very very slim.
Hatchbacks are easier to park for sure! Easier to drive in the cities…