Perodua Axia (D74A) Wins Malaysia Good Design Award

The D74A-gen Perodua Axia wins the Malaysia Good Design Award for Public Areas and Transportation Products.

Since making its debut last year, the second-gen Perodua Axia (D74A) has garnered positive reviews from Malaysians and professionals alike. And this supermini hatch shows no sign of slowing down, with the model recently awarded the Malaysia Good Design Award by the Malaysian Design Council (MRM) – making it the second Perodua model to win this award after the second-gen Perodua Alza.

Won under the Public Areas and Transportation Products category, the D74A Axia has been recognised for its outstanding design, in the form of a super compact city hatch. Making the award more special is the fact that the D74A Axia was designed in-house by the Perodua team rather than being a rebadged Daihatsu or Toyota model like other previous Perodua models.

2023 Perodua Axia D74A (left) & 2023 Perodua Axia 1.0L E 'Rahmah' (right)

Replacing the successful first-gen Axia was a tall task for Perodua to partake in, with its previous supermini bagging huge success during its lifetime, selling over 500,000 units nationwide. The original Axia was so popular that Perodua has decided to continue its lifeline a little bit longer with the launch of the 2023 Perodua Axia E – also known as the Axia ‘Rahmah’.

2023 Perodua Axia D74A in its range-topping 1.0L AV form

Back to the second-gen model, the D74A Axia is the third Perodua model to underpin Daihatsu’s New Global Architecture (DNGA), which it shares with models like the Ativa, Alza, and even the Toyota Vios. Perodua’s decision to use the DNGA platform for the Axia turns out to be a wise one, with the new model not only becoming more spacious than its predecessor but also boasting better handling and safety capabilities.

On the powertrain front, the second-gen Axia retains its predecessor’s 1.0-litre 3-cyl nat-asp 1KR-VE petrol engine that is now mated to a D-CVT automatic gearbox to churn out 67 HP and 91 NM. While performance is not Perodua’s top priority, the Axia excels in the fuel economy front, with Perodua claiming the supermini with a decent fuel efficiency rate of 27.4 KM per litre.

Available in four variants, the second-gen Perodua Axia (D74A) currently retails at RM38,600 for the baseline 1.0L G variant, RM40,000 for the 1.0L X variant, RM44,000 for the 1.0L SE variant, and RM49,500 for the range-topping 1.0L AV variant. Meanwhile, the first-gen Perodua Axia 1.0L E ‘Rahmah’ is still on sale at RM22,000 a pop, featuring a five-speed manual transmission instead.