Three things you may not know about Perodua Bezza

By CARSIFU | 22 July 2016

PETALING JAYA: The launch is over. The crowd is back in the showrooms, with some intending to buy while others are curious and want to check out Perodua's first sedan. And an energy-efficient one at that.

Of the 4,028 orders received in the five days after bookings opened for the Bezza, 50% was for its 1.3L Advance variant, 35% for its 1.3L Premium X variant, while the remaining 15% was for its 1.0L AT/MT variants.

The A-segment compact sedan is the first Perodua vehicle that has its upper body fully designed by Malaysians. It took RM300mil to develop and has 95% local content.

While you have been inundated with information about the Bezza in the past week, here are some details that may have escaped attention.

1. Boot design
The boot is one of the key defining feature in the Bezza. Perodua set out to build a boot that is truly practical and one of the biggest in its class.

The Bezza's boot has been designed with typical hardcase and cabin-size luggages in mind to maximise the 508-litre capacity usage. This has resulted in minimal space wastage and a tightly-packed storage for maximum load. Although other bigger car models may have larger boot compartments, they may not be able to pack in the same amount of luggages as the Bezza's. While the Proton Saga is slightly bigger than the Bezza, it loses out in boot space, having only 413l.

Note the label that states this battery is designed for start/stop operations as opposed to the one in the lower-priced Bezzas without this feature (below).

2. Battery
One difference in the 1.3L Advance top variant is that it features auto start/stop for better fuel economy.

To handle that kind of load, a different battery is used compared to the lower-priced variants which do not have the start/stop feature. The battery in the 1.3L Advance is more robust and has higher cranking power to cope with the repeated engine restarts.

3. Vehicle Stability Control
Perodua created its own history by introducing stability control in an A-segment car. This Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), restricted to the top variant, has earned the Bezza a 5-star Asean NCAP rating. On top of that, it also comes with start/stop operation, hill start assist and reverse camera, features that were previously unheard of in the entry level/budget class.

Thanks to Perodua, it has raised the bar and will force rivals to go back to the drawing board to rethink their product specifications. That benefits consumers in the end.