300 units of Perodua Ativa Hybrid handed to customers; 5-year lease, only RM 500/month

It's monumental today at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur as the first customers have begun receiving their very own 2022 Perodua Ativa Hybrid at the currently-ongoing handover ceremony.

These first owners of what is technically Malaysia's first-ever hybrid car will be participating in a two-pronged feasibility study, in which the first is to understand group driving behaviour of a hybrid vehicle in populated locations in the country, namely in the Klang Valley, Penang, and Johor Bahru.

Purpose two of this study is to understand consumer acceptance of a 5-year subscription (leasing) service, in which Perodua currently offers to its corporate clients under its "EZ MOBi" arm that was first introduced in 2021.

"The Perodua Ativa Hybrid would be the best vehicle for us to gain unique insights on Malaysian behaviour as a controlled group, as this data will be used to anticipate our customers' needs when using an electric vehicle," Perodua President and Chief Executive Officer, Dato' Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad said.

As such, these cars aren't bought outright. Instead they're 'subscribed' from Perodua, with the 300 customers tied to a 5-year plan with a mileage cap of 100,000 km over the 5-years. An upfront payment of RM 2,150 is required with a monthly repayment of RM 500.

It's a full-coverage plan that covers road tax, insurance, and service costs. Only thing owners will have to pay for are wear-and-tear parts and fuel.

The latter probably won't amount to too much anyway, considering the Ativa Hybrid's series-hybrid system can go up to 31.3 km/litre on the Malaysian Driving Cycle test.

"While we believe that vehicle ownership will be our bread and butter; there is a possibility that a vehicle subscription business model may be acceptable for more users in the near future.

This is what we mean by 'subscription' - a service where all other obligations of owning a vehicle - such as following a service schedule, paying vehicle insurance and paying road tax - will be managed entirely by us; all the customer has to do is pay a subscription fee to enjoy the package," Dato' Sri Zainal continued.

The 2022 Perodua Ativa Hybrid is a direct rebadge of the Daihatsu Rocky e:Smart Hybrid, and as such is fully-imported from Japan. A full low-down of the specs can be read in our prior article linked below.

Also reads: 2022 Perodua Ativa Hybrid in Malaysia: Leasing only, 40% better fuel consumption than regular car!