Perodua drops prices of the Viva, why Perodua is successful and why Proton aren't

You've got to hand it to Perodua. The second national car maker has dropped prices for their cheapest model again. 

Viva 660 BX manual – RM22,000 ( from RM25,000, less RM3,000)
Viva 850 manual – RM27,900 (from RM33,200, less RM5,300)
Viva S auto – RM29,900 (from RM35,200, less RM5,300)
Viva Elite MT – RM32,900 (from RM38,200, less RM5,300)
Viva Elite AT – RM36,800 (from RM41,300, less RM4,500)



Whatever cost reducing magic trick they've conjured is up to you and me to guess but they've made cars drop to a figure which I never would have thought seeing again if you add up inflation, rising costs and government taxes. RM22,000 is an On The Road with Insurance price (as are the others). Then you add that 3 years Free Service package (with the usual disclaimers) into the deal and things get rosier. You can even roll out in a Perodua Viva S Auto for RM29,900. A smidgen under RM30,000. All the basic human comforts are in this base Automatic model, you don't really need to pay more for a car you know (The Elite variants are, in my opinion a waste if you're shopping for a budget-mobile - safe the RM3,000-5,000 extra for your next car or for a rainy day).

I believe that this is a last hurrah for the Perodua Viva. They are dropping prices to clear off stocks (and parts) as the Viva has been around for quite a while already. A new model was already hinted at the last KL Motor Show if you remember. So come around September, we're going to see Perodua replace the Viva with the Axia (or what it is supposedly named). They may just keep the base model Viva around for a while longer. Nothing wrong with a budget car if it is used for its purpose and not ferrying around seven people in them (make sure its used for a city car and the Viva is just about alright).

This is what Proton should learn from Perodua. Note that Perodua has kept themselves busy launching new variants of the same models they have. Remember the new colours on the MYVI XT? Do they really need to re-invent new variants every once in a while? Could they even not bother with dropping the prices? Yes they could have but they've kept themselves pretty busy in coming up with new things of the same old things to keep them in the general public's eye. It's about continuous development - the engineers talk to the vendors about pricing of parts, the marketing guys talk to the engineers about coming up with new variants, the marketing guys talk to the sales guys and see what the market wants and everyone in Perodua is busy doing something slightly new all of the time. It keeps their staff on their toes about trends and about their social responsibility in bringing quality (at a price) products at a lower cost to the public. There is a vast difference between being able to change quickly if you compare Perodua with Proton.

Of course Proton designs and builds their own cars which I believe are superior (and still in a larger class segment to Perodua) in some ways but their sales and marketing people are deadwood. They think that going round Malaysia throwing Proton Sales Carnivals would help more than keeping things fresh and busy. Proton throws in a bodykit to an Inspira, Preve and Suprima S and charges more when the bottom-line is that people want more affordable cars especially when it comes to cars below RM75,000. What they want to see is a Proton Saga that looks like a Saga FLX SE that is priced much cheaper than what it is right now coupled with some funky colours rather than throwing bodykits are raising prices. It's all about marketing.

I do hope that as Tun Mahathir is now Chairman of Proton, things would turn around a little more. And that there are Proton staff that are willing to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth to the Old Man. Anyway, kudos to Perodua for giving us more of the cheap stuff.