2023 Perodua Axia debuts as all-new Toyota Wigo’s sibling in Malaysia

Yes, you’re seeing double. Following the launch of the 2023 Toyota Agya as Indonesia’s version of the Wigo small hatchback, automaker Perodua premieres its Axia equivalent for the Malaysian market. 

“With the all-new Perodua Axia launched, our focus (for this new model) are two-fold…maximizing deliveries to our customers and to convert previous generation Axia bookings to the all-new Axia,” said Dato’ Sri Zainal Abidin Ahmad, President & Chief Executive Officer of Perodua.     

He adds that out of 44,000 existing orders for the outgoing Axia, Perodua was able to divert 13,600 towards the second-generation model, combined with 6,500 new bookings.  

The Perodua Axia rides on the same DNGA platform as its Toyota Agya twin from Indonesia

Codenamed D74A, the new Axia rides on the same Daihatsu New Global Architecture (DNGA-A) platform that underpins the Agya, enabling them to share identical dimensions. While the Agya was launched in Indonesia a day early, Perodua was actually the lead in its shared project with Toyota to update the Wigo, dating back to October 2019 at a cost of RM 546 million (over Php 6.88 billion). 

The Axia carries a slightly different fascia to make it distinguishable from its ASEAN twin, with an hourglass-shaped grille bordered by a more prominent front bumper integrating horizontal LED foglamps. Even the headlamps are revised, with the daytime running lights located at the bottom of the housing. Side skirts and a rear spoiler in contrast black are available, set against a choice of five exterior colors. 

Like the new Agya, the second-generation Axia interior is expected to be roomier than the outgoing version

Save for the Perodua branding on the steering wheel, the interior of the Axia is the same as the one on the Agya, with room for five and 265 liters of luggage space behind the rear seats. Amenities include a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, 9-inch display audio touchscreen, and digital air-conditioning. 

The new Axia also brings a range of safety features such as six airbags, anti-lock brakes, stability control, traction control and hill-start assist. In addition, it offers advanced driver-assist equipment like pre-collision warning, lane departure warning, pre-collision warning, and blind-spot monitor. 

The new Perodua Axia runs on a 1.0-liter 3-cylinder gasoline engine carried over from the previous model

Under the hood, the Axia comes with a slightly smaller 1.0-liter gasoline engine equipped with VVT-i that delivers 67 horsepower and 91 Nm of torque. This works in tandem with a dual-mode CVT, and Perodua claims that the powertrain returns a fuel consumption rating of 27.4 km/l. 

With the successive launches of the 2023 Toyota Agya and Perodua Axia, both Indonesia and Malaysia have set the stage for the second-generation Wigo, which hopefully Toyota Motor Philippines will fulfill for our market soon. 

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