Chances are, you’ve already seen plenty of units of the Perodua Bezza on the road. This really is the car of the moment, and the national carmaker couldn’t have hit the heartland of the Malaysian market more accurately in terms of the positioning and pricing of its first sedan.
That positioning, incidentally, is significantly higher than the car it is based on, the A-segment Perodua Axia hatchback. So how does the Bezza justify the price premium? We’ve brought together the range-topping Advance examples of both cars to illustrate this.
Let’s start with prices – the Axia 1.0L Advance is priced at RM42,530 on-the-road with insurance, while the Bezza 1.3L Advance is quite a bit dearer at RM50,800. The extra boot has probably got a lot to do with the higher price, but the Bezza also gets a larger engine and plenty of added equipment, too.
The Axia looks the more expressive of the duo, with a much angrier front fascia incorporating furrowed projector headlights and a massive trapezoidal grille. It should be noted that the base Axia E and G variants get a friendlier face with slimmer upper and lower grilles, plus reflector headlights in a different shape.
Meanwhile, the more mature Bezza gets a broad one-piece headlight (reflectors here, an odd downgrade from the Axia’s projectors) and grille graphic, with chrome spanning the entire width of the top edge. This is echoed in the full-width lower grille that encompasses both the fog lights and the centre air intake.
Along the sides, both the Axia and Bezza have steeply-rising beltlines towards the rear, giving a more athletic look on the hatch, but a slightly awkward appearance on the sedan. Perodua has done a lot to try and mask the latter – it has straightened the slight beltline dip around the wing mirror area, and added a second character line below the main one that carries the door handles to reduce slab-sidedness.
Come around to the rear and you’ll notice that the Bezza has a very steep rake to the boot, giving it quite a tall look. This is likely done in relation to the rising beltline, reducing the dumpy boot look that typically afflicts hatchback-derived sedans. The LED tail lights of the sedan are very much reminiscent of the previous FB-generation Honda Civic, and the chrome strip on the bootlid brings to mind the current Toyota Vios.
On the other hand, the Axia’s pert rear end features clear (on the Advance and SE) C-shaped LED tail lights and a low mounted number plate recess, giving the car a simpler, sportier aesthetic, if less upmarket. Both cars get 14-inch machined-finish alloy wheels, but the Bezza’s have a more intricate two-tone turbine-spoke design. The third brake lights are LEDs on both, but only the Bezza has it as standard across the range.
Step inside and you’ll find that the two are vastly different. Both offer a similar amount of interior space, but the Bezza gets a much more premium look with details such as a full-width gloss black fascia trim and altogether more substantial switchgear such as the chunkier air-conditioning control knobs, indicator and wiper stalks and gear shifter. Material quality is also improved, with finer textures on the plastics.
The floor-mounted console box is new too – ahead of the gearlever sits a new cubbyhole near the cupholders that’s perfect for storing your odds and ends, while the rear of the box gains a smartphone holder (replacing the Axia’s rear cupholder), complete with Proton-style twin USB charging ports on the 1.3 litre models.
Other changes include a cleaner instrument cluster design – the rev counter and speedometer are now the same size (no more squinting at the Axia’s tiny, oddly-shaped tach), while the trip computer sits in the centre and gets a new real-time fuel consumption display.
Both range-topping models here get leather seats, but the Bezza gains a new quilted design on the seat centres, and the ‘Bezza’ brand embossed on the backrests. The sedan also gets silver trim on the steering wheel’s horn pad, and neat white stitching along the rim.
The Bezza offers kit that you wouldn’t expect to be available on a Perodua just a few years ago, including keyless entry, push button start, speed-sensitive wipers and a driver’s side window that goes up automatically as well as down. And while both get front and rear parking sensors and a Bluetooth enabled touchscreen head unit, the Bezza adds Smart Link smartphone screen mirroring (Android only) and a reverse camera.
Safety-wise, the Bezza gets dual airbags, ABS with EBD and ISOFIX child seat mounts with top tether as standard on all models, whereas the Axia launched with anti-lock brakes only on the SE and up. Noteworthy here is the fact that the Axia G received ABS since the beginning of the year, meaning that only the bargain-basement driving school-spec Axia E does away without it.
On top of all this, this top-spec Bezza Advance marks Perodua’s first application of Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), netting it a five-star ASEAN NCAP crash safety rating. All other Bezza models, as well as all Axia variants, get four stars instead.
Naturally, boot space is the biggest differentiator between the two cars. The Axia’s 260 litre cargo area is very respectable for its size and class – in fact, it’s significantly bigger than the Myvi’s 208 litres – but it is dwarfed by the Bezza’s 508 litre boot. The latter also gets a movable cargo net which can be placed at the front, rear or sides of the load bay, preventing loose items from scattering about.
Whereas all Axia models get the same 1.0 litre 1KR-DE2 three-cylinder engine, the Bezza offers a choice between two engines. The base Standard variants receive an updated version with VVT-i, the 1KR-VE – outputs are up 1 hp and 1 Nm, sitting at 67 hp at 6,000 rpm and 91 Nm of torque at 4,400 rpm.
Higher up the range is the new 1.3 litre 1NR-VE four-cylinder engine as fitted here. This unit gains Dual VVT-i technology and punches out 94 hp at 6,000 rpm and 121 Nm at 4,000 rpm. Both engines are available with the choice of either a five-speed manual gearbox or a four-speed electronically-controlled automatic; as with the Axia Advance, the Bezza Advance is automatic-only.
Fuel consumption is an important stat for Perodua these days, so let’s get down to it. The Axia used to be the company’s efficiency champion with a combined fuel consumption figure 21.6 km per litre with the manual transmission and 20.1 km/l with the automatic, but it’s been superseded by the Bezza.
Thanks to improved aerodynamics and the use of low rolling resistance tyres, the sedan in 1.0 litre form achieves 22.8 km/l with the manual and 21.3 km/l with the automatic. Models equipped with the 1.3 litre engine get 21.7 km/l for the manual and 21 km/l for the auto, while this Advance model with Eco Idle automatic engine stop/start is able to hit 22 km/l.
So, now that you’ve had a detailed look at both the Perodua Bezza sedan and Axia hatch, which one would you go for? As usual, sound off in the comments section after the jump. For a more general look at the benefits and downsides of a sedan versus a hatchback, read our bodystyle comparison here.
GALLERY: Perodua Bezza 1.3L Advance
GALLERY: Perodua Axia 1.0L Advance
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the more i see the bezza on the road , for the life of me , i still have no idea why the rear has to be soooooooo high off the ground , the other day i was following one on Duke , i could literally see the whole undercarriage ….its like it has a 4 wheel drive….really really ugly…
for design , it gets negative 5!
Tall is good when there is a flood ma….
Tall IS good becoz it off-sets any HEAVY LOADED rear from BOTTOMING thus avoidng any scraping when car runs over the many BUMPS installed!
Totally agree!
It looks like Perodua doesn’t give the car a rear bumper. It doesn’t protect the tail lamp or the boot. If kena langgar have to replace all these parts. You’re thinking what I am thinking?
Datuk Nabil
You r right.
Why cant perodua retain the front and rear design of Axia,in the Bezza ? Just make a LONGER AXIA with massive boot,makes sense,mr.Aminar ?
The Bezza,front and rear looks ALIEN.
Kena langgar belakang pasti akan terbalik ke depan .. dan kalau kena langgar ferrari dari belakang , pasti terbang ke belakang ferrari … Designer tidur ka ?
Butt high up until can see rear wheels springs
Macam Itik berjalan
Malaysian want long leg room and boot space, this is why the car exist on the road. So now u know Malaysian got point of views totally different from global. Zero standard among Asean country.
You are right – Bezza rear design can win an award for being the worst looking rear for the year.
I did not notice it in the showroom, and I believe many did not saw it too when they booked the car. But when the car is on the street, oh my god….the rear is so high and so thin….so terrible.
People buy this Perodua not because of design. Proton is better design, price & specs in the market. But people still choose Perodua product. Why? Because of reliable Perodua (dual VVT-i) engine & 4 speed E-AT gearbox, good aftersale services, build quality, less problem.
Proton still believe that Campro VVT & CVT clucth bising Punch Powertrain gearbox is the best in world.
Please upgrade ur vendor product, increase ur build quality. Change ur engine Campro to GDI/TGDI/MIVEC/I-Vtec/Dual VVT-i. Clucth CVT to Torque Converter CVT gearbox! Then that is the real recipe of successfull for Proton!
if that so, why Beza langgar pagar?
Tall is good for malaysian roads with many deep humps
Bezza tongek…X lawa laa
Dua Roda lagi …. basi lah
BOSAN LA DUA DUA KERETA NI
What a laughing comparision. Its just to justfing how P2 makes money from empty pocket lower income people. with less safety factor and higher price.. shame on you.
The lower income buy because of reliable engine & quality build. Why saga & persona cannot sale? Campro unreliable & thirsty engine, & clutch cvt bising punch powertrain.
You buy perodua because of reliability. Not everyone have the luxury to ular at service centre like fix their car so often like most Proton owners.
U buy P2 becoz of reliability for early afterlife. Nuff said.
The rear is not a bit tall, it look massively tall.
that is the low point of this otherwise a nicely spec and priced car.
BOSAN LA KEDUA DUA KERETA NI.
I think Bezza is not ready for side impact. It looks so thin from side.
U gotta compromise.
You can buy one, and try to side for side impact. Then you can judge..
Compromise is either Biza with my special package or Asiah without my special package. I strongly recommend get my Biza cuz when both reliably bring to early afterlife, the relatives will get peace of mind when rest in peace with my special package.
Comment on Bezza on the look:
1. Rear bumper look too short likes wearing super short mini-skirt which doesn’t look sexy at all.
2. Cup holder at door side with thin material and look very flimsy.
3. Miss of center armrest
While for the rest it’s quite OK with decent quality.
Bought Bezza Advance. Fuel consumption is relatively high. At most i can get only 14km/l compare to advertised 22km/l.
Well,thats the thing abt manufacturer claim.Its just a ‘claim’.
For 14km/l you can get a proper 4 door sedan with good quality leather,nice handling,good long distance travelling,better fc when carrying weight…
Unless the Bezza came with force induction….
22km/l are peak/max achievable results. Meaning boring slow cruise @ 70km/h~110km/h constant in highest gear.
You can put the car there jam for 24hr and achieve 0km/l then complain to consumer tribunal and see what they say.
Anyway if you daily route involve 50+ bumps and 20+ traffic lights, real hybrid will be better.
why dont you go to tribunal. Saman tetap saman…
Axia owner here. It will slowly be better after running in your engine. Started at 14km/l, now averages around the mid 17km/l.
Bezza has the worse looking butt on the road at the moment… the design team head must be fired.
If i am a CeO.. i will burn chief designer to hell. wasting development money and time. Adding bad repo on sales. P2 salesman noe speechless.. minum teh tarik since no one attract to bezaa aby more.
why call it leather.Perodua only gives pvc seat and steering wrap
…and call it ‘Gear Up’ tai lan ngong accessories.
it needs a bodykit forthwith.
Perodua, can we see the cut away of your cars? We want to see how solid and thick the metals you use on your cars. Also we want to see how your cars perform on side and rear impact collisions. Thank you.
Why so difficult, just use gunting potong besi lah!
Care to demonstrate on your car? That’s right you drive UMW cars that is wrapped with thin aluminum foils
The most ugliest sedan car ever! Should be ban from the Malaysian road view. Those Beza buyers, will regret for the whole of their life.
Just because you don’t like the car doesn’t mean buyers will regret. They have their own brains to judge what they buy. Going by the sales are u saying >25K people are going to regret ?
yes.. because 25k is counted from phone calls, not the booking..
Keep your proud to yourself. The data simply show poor Malaysian paid 50 grand just to get half-crooked car? Poor Malaysian again & again at the hefty profit by the capitalist and greedy companies like Pero2? Just because PeroToyo brand name then the exorbitant prices are justified to poor Malaysian? For the sake of the price alone, why cant Pero & Toyo build proper A class sedan for Malaysian? Again, Pero2 takes ordinary Malaysian for granted simply because they can sell at highest margin? Whilst keep the cost keep at the lowest possible then More profit, more bonus for the car industry? whilst Malaysian suffer to the cores? Who cares?
Months ago everybody gogo gaga over Bezza. Now all are Ayoyo! Despite that IMO interior of Bezza looks good and better than Persona. Something P1 should ponder on. I do agree with commenters. Axia has the look that it can slice Bezza to bits and pieces.
I love the car. Tall like SUV sitting. I bought it instead of the other local car is because I don’t like the seats. The Bezza is designed for practicality not for F1 wannabe. It doesn’t pretend to be one.
P2 olang spotted..
Very practical and prudent choices these two. And not too shaby looking either for their prices. If their long-term reliability is proven next, then they’ll be in control of the budget-conscious young family market.
Axia with bezza 1.3 engine…much better.
So did Perodua release how many people opt to switch their bookings from Axia and Myvi to Bezza? Yes, they manage to get 26k booking, with almost 11k deleveries, but sure Myvi and Axia bookings are affected don’t they.
still promoting bezza and axia… cammon la! now persona era is coming back!
based on axia but need longger boot space(i guess it is the main reason it become a bit tall at the back+the suspension), i didn’t expect too much becoz it still an affordable car to buy.better then current saga for sure..
that tonggek car, make me laugh at highway
I wonder about the 26K bookings – are they new buyers or simply former owners of Kancil/Kenari/Myvi who are upgrading their cars due to expended family members? In other words their market share is still the same. Just a replacement car for current P2 owners. Time will tell.
I have being using a 1.0L Axia Auto for the past 1 year. The best consumption I achieved is 15 KPL. I achieved this when driving from Penang to KL along the NS expressway or vice versa ( 4 x) at a constant speed of 90 KPH. Please advise how to achive 20.1 KPL. Is my car consumption questionable and you need to check up?
you can achieve more thqn that. the secrect is by controlling.the travel speed.. the best practise is by put you car at max. gear on the top of,toll truck. i gurantee you can have maximum saving on fuel.
I dont drive Axia. But my persona can achieve 15km/L, while my wife’s Almera can achieve 17km/L on pure highway drive (max refuel method, not the digital info) at 90-100kmh. I believe Axia Bezza can achieve 18km/L easily with no problems. See Lowyat.net forum for other users’ statistics.
Check your tyre pressure, alignment, and remove heavy stuff from the bonnet.
Dear Jonathan Lee,
Since you guys have both cars for photoshoot session, why not test driving them for the second time? Paultan.org has yet to produce any comprehensive test drive reviews for both the Axia and Bezza. Both test drive reviews published for both models were preliminary reviews conducted through Perodua’s media session which provide limited indepth impression. Please include chubby Hafriz when conducting the test drive review ya.
The rear of the Bezza is not only awkward. They kind of made it worse with the Civic rear lights because it makes the rear look even higher up. The bottom part is awkward as it is too high off the ground. The bodykit makes it look even worse as it sticks out on the edges. There is no way that rear end is designed with any aesthetic quality in mind. Only trying to be more practical with a bigger boot. Couple it’s really skinny and tall,shape it makes the whole car look unstable, unrefined and cheap.
Have been driving for over 1500++ km now, so far Iam very satisfied with the ride, the engine is smooth and no vibration can be felt in the cabin, don’t understand how other people who don’t own/buy the giving bad opinions (regret, boring drive, etc), so far I am very fine with it and loving it everyday.
Fc achieved: 19km/l (highway+city drive max speed 120km/h)
Max speed driven: 160km/h
I may be one of the few who owns an Axia and now trading up for the new Bezza.The overriding factor is the engine..it is both reliable and economical, based on the same family of engines in the Toyota Yaris 1.3 for the four cylinder 1.3 Bezza and the Yaris 1.0 for the three cylinder 1.0 Axia.The Toyota Yaris is sold in Europe and UK while the Toyota Vios and Solundra are sold in Malaysia and Thailand with a 1.5 litre engine.The VVT ( variable Valve timing) and dual ( for dual vvt) are the same terms used to describe the family connection with Toyota. Daihatsu( Perodua’s partner) is a subsidiary of Toyota in japan.If and when the Bezza gets the 1.5 engine,I will probably switch to this Bezza as it is the same lenth as the Toyota Vios driven by my wife.
As to the looks,does it really matter if it is perceived to be high or low.It is just a perception..young people likes to see a low boot because they think it drives better but with a car at 110 kph on our PLUS highway it is academic.I like the overall look of the car.It looks solid and dependable..not flash.My wife thinks it looks better than the vios from the side when we saw one drivng along the LDP near Kelana Jaya.I take delivery of new car today to celebrate Hari Malaysia
PUT THE NEW ENGINE IN AXIA N SELL IT CHEAP
Anyone ever think WHY the designers of Bezza made it tonggeng, perhaps for a SPECIAL reason?! Usually cars that are NOT tonggeng, SLIM-lined when NOT moving, when FULLY loaded with passengers at the BACK tends to BOTTOM -out, thus rendering the nose of the car, to appear tilted/lifted UP! Perhaps designers at Perodua Bezza at Sungei Choh, has the 4 sight.Innovation, to purposely design/ point its bck-side a bit up/skyward, so that when the car is FULLY loaded with passengers at the back, the car DOES NOT sag, like most passenger cars do, BUT instead weigh it down to a more Dynamic/more fuel efficient/ less drag(good coef) ‘ready to go’ stance as seen in strike air craft? Anyway…. the BEAUTY/UGLINESS of any car lies in the Eyes of the Beholder! Sorry, no offence meant!
I would not mind not having CVT.
CVT is in its early stage of invention. Even Honda cannot solve their noisy CVT in Civic 2016. Someone described Honda CVT noise like a bunch of rubber bands tying together.
10 years later, a CVT would be an attraction. Not now.
if u think perodua car is safe……………think twice….basically all model is flimzy ride…goyang goyang …ppl said aiyo only 40-50k wat to expect…i said park u la…we deserve everybit of money to be spend to get at least firm ride and safety like new generation kia car lah sohai
i just owed an AXIA SE 1 month ago. i noticed the FC is an average of 10.5km/l only and not as claimed of 22.5km/l. is this normal. i drive most of the time in the city. LDP is the only highway thru. need advise. i also ont trust Perodua SC cause they always bill parts they claim to change when sent for servicing but when we check, nothing is done. this is in particular for battery cover and AC filter they claim they change and bill. when i asked, they say it is part of servicing charge and need to do but they didnt change. id rather loose the warranty than being cheated by these suckers!!!!!! please advise.