Is A Brand New Perodua Axia Launching Soon?

Speculative render of the 2023 Perodua Axia by Theophilus Chin (@theottle).

There’s been strong rumours and hearsay surfacing online this week alleging that Perodua will introduce the long-awaited replacement for its Axia supermini very soon, perhaps as early as next month – February.

Much of this stems from a recent report published by Indonesian portal AutoNetMagz. What’s interesting here is that said report indicates Perodua will be the first to launch their iteration of what will soon become the new Toyota Ayga and Daihatsu Ayla in said republic, and other ASEAN markets.

Speculative render of the 2023 Perodua Axia by Theophilus Chin (@theottle).

If things pan out as the report says, it will put Perodua in a new position with its efforts revolving around the Daihatsu New Global Architecture (DNGA) platform. This perhaps follows on from Perodua stepping up its working partnership with Daihatsu towards becoming a leading player and development hub for ASEAN as announced back in 2020.

L-R: DNGA-based Perodua Ativa and second-gen Alza models. Note: Ativa Hybrid pictured.

Despite this, the arrival of DNGA-based models like the Ativa and second-gen Alza both came after their respective Daihatsu and Toyota twins were introduced in neighbouring ASEAN markets. The incoming new Axia’s early arrival might signal a change from that trend.

Fuelling this further is said report’s indication that said twins will debut as early as March this year after Perodua’s supposed debut of the Axia in February. At present, Perodua remains tight-lipped and hasn’t denied nor confirmed this, but we expect an announcement or perhaps an official indication to which very soon.

Given that the Axia has been in production in 2014, not forgetting the evolution of current car tech and heightened consumer demands, a replacement is somewhat due this year. Furthermore, details leaked online by eager dealers have also likely confirmed a few other things besides the model’s new DNGA base.

Image source: TikTok.

Key amongst which is the absence of a manual transmission option, with all variants set to be primed exclusively with CVT automatic boxes, likely its D-CVT unit, just like the Ativa and Alza. All will also utilise 1.0-litre powerplants, though it remains unknown at this point if Perodua will field the same 1.0-litre 3-cyl turbo mill as found in the Ativa for this supermini.

There’s also indications that up to four variants will be offered, plus the availability of up to four metallic colour schemes on top of a sole solid white hue choice. Sources close to Perodua also suggest that the design for the new Axia will likely take cues from the X-Concept shown by Perodua at KLIMS 2018.

For now, your guess is as good as ours. We reckon at least an indication of which will arise at Perodua’s upcoming 2023 Outlook press conference that’s taking place next week.