These are the results of the inaugural Asian Compact Sedan Design Challenge (ACSDC) 2023, drawing 93 entries from 7 countries. It is a design challenge open to professional and student designers within Asia, co-organised by Perodua and the Malaysia Design Council (MRM).

Aside from Malaysia, entries from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore were submitted. Though one of the judging criteria was to seek “fresh design elements to suit the ASEAN taste”, there were also submissions from Japan, Iran, and India.

The 8 finalists consisted of 3 young student designers from Malaysia while the professional category was shortlisted to 3 designers from Indonesia and 2 from Malaysia. They were given a chance to turn their digital vision into reality in the form of a clay mock-up model.

In the end, Bryan Teh from Asia Pacific University (APU) was crowned in the student category with his unique interpretation of a sporty sedan. Speaking to WapCar, Bryan mentioned that two of his design inspirations for the sedan concept were the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Opel Manta.

Meanwhile, Kenny Chan from Malaysia impressed the judges by awarding him the winner of the professional category with his “Payung” concept car. In a brief interview with WapCar, Kenny said that he was inspired by ASEAN motifs like the songket with its design elements woven into the concept.

On the Payung concept car, chief of judges, Muhamad Zamuren Musa who is also Perodua’s General Manager of the Styling Design Department and R&D remarked, “The design proportion show dynamic with a fastback silhouette while the strong and stable body character makes the car well-balanced.”

He continued, “The significance of details and other creative elements of style make the car among the best of all participants.”

In a statement, Perodua President and CEO, Dato’ Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad said, “For Perodua, this competition gives us insights on what a sedan is as a definition and perception of this type of vehicle differ from one country to the next.”

“Malaysians see it as a practical vehicle while other countries may see it more of a status symbol, and by having this competition, we can see where we can merge the two ideas into one,” he continued.

The Perodua CEO could not attend the prize-giving ceremony held at Hilton Kuala Lumpur. In his stead was Perodua Vice President, Datuk Ahmad Suhaimi Hashim, who revealed at today’s ceremony that this competition isn’t only to acknowledge young and future designers from across Malaysia and Asia but the winning designs could be an inspiration for the next generation of the Perodua Bezza.

Also read: After D74A Axia, all-new Perodua Bezza to also get 6 airbags, standard VSC, coming in 2024?

“During the launch of the ACSDC 2023 competition back in July, we said that we would consider the design as the inspiration for our future model. It would be an easy guess on what that future model would be as we only have one sedan under our stable of vehicles,” Datuk Ahmad said.

The Vice President continued, “It is true we are looking for a full model change of our Bezza in the future and this design competition is part of the product development process as we consider various ideas to integrate into a full model change.”

While the Bezza’s age was acknowledged in his speech, Datuk Ahmad said that the next-generation model won’t be launched so soon while hinting that it would not just be suited for Malaysian tastes.

“However, the product development process is still on the drawing board stage and would not materialize any time soon. From the design that is chosen, you can see that we are looking for a balance of looks and functionality as well as a broader appeal not just for the Malaysian market but beyond,” he said.

Most of the designs by the finalists are conceptual but could you picture any of them being a preview for the next generation Perodua Bezza?

Also read: More Malaysians opt for compact, budget cars: Perodua revises 2023 target to 325k, Q4 to be its best in history