By now you would probably have read about Perodua’s self-illuminating instrument cluster in the Myvi and Alza, alleged to be “deadly” by one retired expat named Wolf Vaupel.
Here’s the background. The German’s wife bought a Myvi in August 2014. He discovers that the car’s self-illuminating meter panel lights up during the day, without the headlamps switched on, and claims in his blog that the feature is “deadly” because a lit up meter panel indicates that one’s headlights are on. This might lead to some forgetting to switch on their headlamps. He further claims that this feature does not comply to international safety standards.
Once a high-end feature, self-illuminating meter panels are now increasingly used in the auto industry, and have brand names such as Optitron (Toyota) and Fine Vision (Nissan). They light up once the car is started, as opposed to only when the headlights are switched on with traditionally lit clusters. Such dials appear sharper and are easier to read.
Motorists need to decouple the mental link between “headlights on” and “meter lights up” if they haven’t already done so – besides glow from the headlamps themselves, look out for the headlamp icon in the cluster, centre console illumination and reduced brightness of the meter panel as indicators.
Here’s an official statement by Perodua’s president and CEO, Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh, on the matter.
First and foremost, we wish to ensure our customers that our products and services are offered with safety-first in mind which strictly adhere to domestic safety standards set by the Malaysian government via its Ministry and various agencies. In fact, even the first generation Myvi (circa 2005-2011) is Euro 4 certified as Perodua exported to the United Kingdom previously. We have since improved on those safety features for our customers.
That being said, it has come to our attention that a blogger by the name of Wolf Vaupel has accused the Perodua Myvi and Alza of posing high safety risk to our customers.
In his blog posting 10th March 2015, Mr Vaupel claimed that the self-illuminating instrument cluster featured in both the Myvi and the Alza as “deadly”. According to Mr Vaupel’s logic, the self-illuminating instrument panel confuses drivers into thinking that the headlights are on.
We wish to clarify, that based on inquiries made to both the authorities and insurance companies showed that there is no such linkage concerning self-illuminating instrument cluster and road collisions at night. In addition, the self-illuminating instrument cluster is featured on other international brands and we are perplexed on why Mr Vaupel’s attacks are only directed to Perodua.
He further claims that the self-illuminating feature is against international regulations but fails to provide any evidence to his statements. We also wish to clarify, contrary to Mr Vaupel’s claim, that we have replied to his earlier inquiry about the matter.
Being a responsible organisation, we welcome our customers to share their views and grievances with us, however we will not tolerate unfounded allegations and we will take necessary action to protect our rights.
In any case, the new 2015 Perodua Myvi facelift has reverted back to the traditional backlit instrument cluster, which means that it won’t light up until the headlights are switched on.
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AI-generated Summary ✨
Comments express concern over Perodua's self-illuminating meter panel, highlighting safety risks such as drivers forgetting to turn on headlights at night due to lack of indicator lights, which can cause accidents. Many criticize the CEO’s defensive and dismissive response, viewing it as arrogant and unprofessional, and some argue that the company’s refusal to revert to traditional backlit meters shows negligence. Several commenters compare Perodua unfavorably to other brands with proper indicators, safety features, and better quality, and some call for stricter regulations and consumer awareness. There is a common sentiment that the company's attitude and safety standards are inadequate, with many emphasizing that driver responsibility should not be replaced by faulty technology, and lamenting Malaysia's manufacturing and regulatory oversight.