Toyota sees Perodua to be more important than Daihatsu? Regional launch plan for 2023 Perodua Axia suggests so

• Previously, Perodua models were usually launched after equivalent Toyota / Daihatsu models in Indonesia
• 2023 Perodua Axia to be launched ahead of Daihatsu Ayla
• Perodua Axia's annual sales is 3x higher than Toyota Agya and Daihatsu Ayla

The D74A generation 2023 Perodua Axia will be launched in Malaysia on 14-February. Historically, Perodua will only launch its cars after its Toyota or Daihatsu equivalents have already on sale in Indonesia.

This is true for the Perodua Alza and the previous generation Perodua Axia, but not the Perodua Ativa, which was launched almost 2 months earlier than the Daihatsu Rocky and Toyota Raize in Indonesia. More on that later.

The streets of Jakarta are dominated by MPVs. Toyota Avanza, Toyota Veloz, and Daihatsu Xenia – cars that Indonesians refer to as LMPV, equivalents of the Perodua Alza – are highly popular, as are A-segment hatchbacks like the Toyota Agya and Daihatsu Ayla – which the Indonesians refer to as LCGC or Low Cost Green Cars - equivalents of our Perodua Axia.

Naturally, Indonesia takes a higher priority when launching the Toyota Veloz, which hit Indonesian showrooms 8 months ahead of our Perodua Alza, but that’s also partly due to Covid-19-related restrictions.

With the D74A generation 2023 Perodua Axia that is due to be launched next week, something has changed.

The previous generation Axia was launched nearly a year after its twin Indonesian counterparts but this time around, the latest Axia will be launched ahead of the Daihatsu Ayla (but after the Toyota Agya).

Toyota Indonesia will be launching the 2023 Toyota Agya on 13-February, one day before the Axia. Naturally, the big brother calling the shots will lead the way. Meanwhile, Daihatsu Indonesia will launch the 2023 Daihatsu Ayla a day after Perodua, on 15-February.

The Toyota Agya, Daihatsu Ayla, and Perodua Axia trio share the same basic vehicle architecture but with different powertrains, features, and design details to suit their respective target market's different needs and local tax structure and regulations.

The fact that Perodua, which has traditionally played a subservient role to Daihatsu, is launching the Axia earlier than Daihatsu holds some symbolic value.

Last year, Indonesia sold 23,500 units of the Daihatsu Ayla and 21,336 units of the Toyota Agya. Perodua didn’t disclose its 2022 sales by model, but we know that 52,983 units of the Axia were made last year, and that figure was still barely sufficient to fulfill outstanding orders.

For this all-new Axia, Perodua targets to sell 5,700 units of monthly, which translates to 68,400 units – nearly 3x more the Toyota Agya and Daihatsu Ayla achieved in Indonesia last year.

Of course, the biggest reason to this is because Honda Malaysia doesn't sell the Honda Brio here. In Indonesia, Daihatsu and Toyota have to deal with competition from Honda.

Daihatsu and Toyota sales advisors cower when going up against a Honda sales advisor promoting the Brio, Indonesia's No.1 selling car in 2022, with 61,025 units sold, that's 3x more than Agya and Ayla! 

The appeal of 'Lambang H' is super strong in Indonesia.

Also read: Honda Brio – The City Hatchback’s baby brother that Malaysians never got

But this is not the first time Perodua has launched a model before its technical partner Daihatsu’s main market in Indonesia.

The Perodua Ativa was launched 2 months earlier than its donor car(s) the Daihatsu Rocky and Toyota Raize in Indonesia.

The reason? Perodua built 30,267 units of the Ativa last year, while Indonesia bought 8,336 units of the Daihatsu Rocky and 24,092 units of the Toyota Raize.

Perodua’s overachieving success in Malaysia, where the car market is only half the size of Indonesia, where Daihatsu has a much longer history (since 1973) than Perodua has in Malaysia (since 1994), has not gone unnoticed within the Toyota Motor group.

It’s also probably why Daihatsu is generous enough to step aside and give priority to Perodua for an earlier market entry for the D74A model.

Perodua has also proven itself in developing the Perodua Bezza and Perodua Myvi with minimal assistance from Japan. The Rawang-based organization is now promoted into a regional R&D centre for the Toyota-Daihatsu jointly owned internal company – Emerging Market Compact Car Company (EMCC).

The upcoming 2023 Toyota Vios is known internally as D92A is also developed by Perodua, but the Vios will remain strictly a Toyota-only product, so don't get funny ideas of buying a cheaper Vios.

Perodua is now the fourth largest car brand in Southeast Asia’s Top-5 largest markets of Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam – behind Toyota, Honda, and Isuzu. If commercial vehicles is to be removed, then Perodua is now ranked No.3, behind Honda and ahead of Mitsubishi Motors.

Top 10 car brands in ASEAN's Top 5 biggest car markets, year 2022

1. Toyota: 985,463 units
2. Honda: 338,980 units
3. Isuzu: 287,095 units
4. Perodua: 282,019 units
5. Mitsubishi: 266,525 units
6. Daihatsu: 202,665 units
7. Proton: 141,432 units (total production, including exports outside of ASEAN)
8. Suzuki: 130,433 units
9. Hyundai: ~120,583 units
10. Ford: ~100,000 units (estimate)