The government says the new national car project (NNCP) is set to continue despite the change in national leadership, according to senior minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali. “This is for the sake of expanding the country’s automotive sector,” he said.
The latest statement by the international trade and industry (MITI) minister reiterates what Malaysia Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii) CEO Datuk Madani Sahari had stated back in March. At that point, Madani had said that there were no plans to scrap the project, which is being led by Cyberjaya-based digital engineering services and consultancy company DreamEdge, because the government is not involved in – or funding – its development.
Mohamed Azmin said that DreamEdge will be called to give a briefing on the development of the project, Berita Harian reports. He added that Perodua and Daihatsu had been requested to brief and present a paper to the government on how the two automotive companies could help develop the NNCP.
“This is because we have identified the platform and its implementation. This needs to be clarified,” he said. He added that the NAP2020 would continue as outlined, as it contains the agenda and framework for the automotive industry moving ahead into the future.
Meanwhile, Perodua president and CEO Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad said the request for the proposal would be fulfilled by the company as soon as possible. He said the proposed paper would not just include the NNCP but the automotive ecosystem on the whole.
“We will show the government how Perodua can help the local automotive ecosystem, not just focus on a new national car. It will cover everything from the workforce to the technology and the vendors,” he explained.
The NNCP first surfaced into public view in June 2018 when ex-prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad mooted the idea of a new national car. The topic evolved into a series of discussions in the following year, until DreamEdge was announced as the lead for the project in August last year.
The car – which is expected to be a plus-sized B-segment sedan – was teased at the launch of the National Automotive Policy 2020 (NAP 2020) in February this year, albeit in a box and draped, with just the headlight and tail lamp section being offered for view.
The prototype was supposed to have been previewed in April at the Malaysia Autoshow 2020, which was first postponed and later shifted to 2021 due to the Covid-19 outbreak and resulting movement control order (MCO). There has been no update as to when it will be shown to the public.
DreamEdge has previously stated that the new car promises to be an all-round performer that will be fun to drive, family friendly, highly fuel efficient and be value for money. It will also get a “modern and futuristic styling,” complete with up-to-date in-car connectivity functions, and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.
Powertrain-wise, the car is likely to feature a regular internal combustion petrol engine or a hybrid powertrain, but this will be led by technology partner Daihatsu, which confirmed its involvement in the project last October. Daihatsu has no equity involvement, but will merely head powertrain and platform development.
Previously, DreamEdge had revealed that full production of he new car was set to take place by the first half of 2022, and it was targeting to sell at least 3,000 cars a month in the first year of sales, leading to an annual rate of 36,000 units a year.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Oh no not again!
I am sure that the third national carmaker DreamEdge will do well since it will be using Toyota’s Game-Changing technologies. As you can see from the picture above, the sedan has a stunning design and most likely will be fitted with advance safety features. This is why Proton must be fully aware of the upcoming third national carmaker, it has the potential to Game Proton Over.
> Gamechanger
> Gane Over
aiyo tarak new phrase ka? useless betul macai ni.
better fire him and hire me la, i’ll come up with better taglines.
This is the main reason car prices have risen sharply. Rakyat don’t need this 3rd National car! Shove it! Boycott it! BTW, big numbers unemployment is on the rise. Pls put economic as forefront of our country! Not this cronies oriented project!
What we need for local automotive industries is nothing new like national car maker, initially lack of patent technology and innovation itself also copy and assemble and share part from other, it so waste pollution another 60 years. *history always repeats itself
Dream Edge is the New Power of Dream National car
Dream Edge for economy boost and job opportunity. Power of Dream is DreamEdge
2 recipe for 2020 cars:
1. HEV Hybrid with small battery, 10years battery warranty
2. DRCC with Lane Keep
Bonus – Toyota acceleration suppression system
https://paultan.org/2020/07/02/toyota-acceleration-suppression-system-included-in-new-vehicles-with-ics-or-as-retrofit-for-older-models/
Selling point- self driving for traffic jam. No mis-acceleration during traffic jam drive and kiss other ass. And fuel economy for being moved.
Driving in jam with manual is so 1990s…
Driving in jam with Auto is so 2005s…
Driving in jam with DRCC is 2020…
Habislah Perodua! With DreamEdge partnering Daihatsu, the Jepunis lord will ditch Perodua and soon no one will buy Perodua cars anymore.
Ha ha ha ha ha
yes. as long as it’s Daihatsu/Toyota.
Ya, all outdated tech
Why is it a national car if its privately driven? Isn’t dream edge a gahmen company? Why must the people tolerate more monopolies? We want cars but we want to choose the cars we want and buy it at market price and not at huge mark up in the form of punitive taxes.
Agreed!! This is just a way for the cronies to make money! Until when must we suffer! Most of us take a loan when we buy a car, not only are we paying high taxes, we also have to pay interest on top of that! So the high taxes we are paying when we buy a car is actually even higher when u consider the interest the bank charges us.
ya totally agreed. we already have proton and perodua. proton doing very well since geely is helping with new design and tech. before geely proton tech and design is ugly and low tech! after geely took over proton sales went up a lot! what is the point of doing national car again that they have failed many times and never improve on it.
there goes all the tax payer money!
What national car la… Focus on bringing up the economy and put more jobs out there to help ppl recover from the pandemic pls. This project can wait!
ofcoz continue…this dude can milk some $
5% of total cost.
Probably more than that.
I will support this if they produce EV.
Yes and that will cost likely RM150k and above for a sedan version of Malaysian product. This is why even Proton and will not bring in EV cars nor Proton prior to Geely released any EV cars even though they have been winning awards for the Exora EV.
In short, it’s just a slightly stretched Myvi with boot? Plus ASA 2.0 & start stop engine features? But park under DreamEdge?
Kalau join dengan Tesla buat kereta letrik boleh la terima sebab. Ni petrol/hybrid cukup la dengan proton/perodua tak perlu ketiga ni. Ada kan company Tesla kat Penang.
likely be another rebadged China car, and will keep imposing heavy duties to protect it..full of nonsense that will enrich several few yet again..
2+1 new stooges. Now the complete package. After selling of 1st stooge to mighty China. Plan to create the 3 fella for resale after getting all the financing somewhere.
Do we still need this? We are a small country and our market is not so big. Even countries as big as Thailand and Indonesia did not have their own car company. And yet, Malaysia is looking to have a 3rd car brand. In a long run, it might ended up being like Proton which was sold to a foreign company and ended up rebadging cars rather than creating their own car.
EV Car Trend is coming up ! Come On, it really want to restart National Car … Pls Start with EV now !
What’s with this obsession about national cars? 3 national car brands for a developing country with 30 million population? What the **** is wrong with these people
Oh yeah I forgot.. Proton just got bought by China so the government need another pet company to reward their cronies
Watch it, buddy. The first part is your own opinion, so fair play. But the last claim is downright seditious, and has no place in an automotive website like this.
I fully agree, let’s keep government and politics out of the comment section. Please keep comments related to the automotive aspect only. You are allowed your opinion, but keep it related to the article and car involved. Let the people decide what car they like and want to buy, please don’t be biased.