If you've sat inside the Perodua Ativa, one thing must've stuck out to you - the placement of the central locking buttons.

Unlike most cars that you might be familiar with, the Ativa's central locking buttons are situated on the centre tunnel, right next to the handbrake lever.

This is vastly different from the arrangement in its donor car, the JDM Daihatsu Rocky which has no buttons - not even on the driver's door.

Actually, that's one of Daihatsu's steps to further 'Malaysianise' the Ativa from its base brothers, the Daihatsu Rocky and Toyota Raize.

Also read: The 2021 Perodua Ativa is more Malaysian than the Proton X50?

The buttons are placed there to be easily accessible for the front-seat passenger to lock the doors when the driver is gone. "The feature was added based on a suggestion from local staffers who tested trial models," Nobuhiko Ono tells Nikkei.

Ono serves as the deputy chief officer at Daihatsu's research and development management division, and headed the development of the Rocky.

Meanwhile, Ono explained that the Ativa's brakes are tightened too, following reports on local drivers' needs. Daihatsu's studies concluded that drivers would feel less secure if the brakes responded softly when the pedal was pressed.

Also read: Daihatsu Rocky and Toyota Raize to be exported to 50 countries, no luck for Ativa

"As Malaysia has lots of express highways, cars often run at high speed. We had to figure out how to deal with that," Ono said.

Also read: Review: 2021 Perodua Ativa AV – The new Malaysian highway king

It's the same for the Indonesian-spec Rocky, which was designed to perform better on the country's many rough and unpaved roads.

Also read: 5 things the Perodua Ativa needs to improve on – Long term review #10

More stories on our long-term review can be read here.