MITI, or the Ministry of International Trade and Industry Malaysia has announced a new national car project. According to the news (of which the official press release is published below) basically states that this first model will be a completely new model with advanced technology but it will use an existing and proven vehicle platform from the technology partner. The local or anchor company is DreamEDGE Sdn Bhd which does a lot of strategic tie ups in terms of engineering and tech development with Japanese companies. Daihatsu is also the foreign technology partner in this case.
From what was announced at the press conference earlier today, DreamEdge will spearhead the project locally with Daihatsu providing the technology in terms of drivetrain and powertrain as DreamEdge will come up with the new upper body, interior and human-machine interface systems, as well as enhancement of noise, vibration & harshness (NVH) and ride & handling (R&H).
The first model will most likely be a sedan and it will utilise proven advanced technology. Note that Daihatsu is a company under the Toyota Group and are already partners with the second national car company Perodua. In short, this is the same people who are already involved with a national car project.
More details from the press conference was that this project is a catalyst for more technology to be brought into Malaysia and for its people to learn and acquire technology. This time, it seems the only difference is the so called 'advanced technology' which will be implemented in the new car. From what most of us gather is is the use of hybrid technology or an internal combustion engine coupled to an electric motor.
Our Thoughts on the Matter
Daihatsu has access to all of Toyota's technology and this shouldn't be an issue actually. The only thing is that why wasn't Perodua used to spearhead this project since they are a Daihatsu joint venture company?
The only reason is that the government of Malaysia wants someone else to take charge of this new venture without the input of those already in the business (of being so profitable and good at making and selling cars). According to the details, Prime Minister was impressed with the proposal laid down by DreamEdge and its business model until he decided that the company should try and embark on this project.
Right now, I do see overlaps in terms of the people involved, especially with Daihatsu, who are doing fine sharing a lot with Perodua.
But let's just give this project the benefit of doubt in terms of who is running what and why. Let is focus on the first model which they will produce. According to what was also mentioned the car will be a sedan. It will also be in working prototype form by 2020 and should be ready for production by 2021. The production of the new car will also be done by contract assembly or in other words, designed and engineered by the team from DreamEdge together with Daihatsu and then, the car will be assembled in Malaysia by a local assembler or manufacturer.
Since it is Daihatsu, which are part of Toyota, there is actually two facilities which they have access to - the Perodua plant in Serendah and the new Toyota plant in Bukit Rajah. I am putting my money on the Perodua plant simply because they already do contract assembly for Toyota (with the Rush) and they definitely are good at producing a whole lot of cars at a time (they are number 1 right now in terms of manufacturing and sales).
So what else? The thing that most of us industry pundits are saying is that since the car is a sedan, it could use the Toyota Prius Hybrid platform as a base, and then make it into a sedan. But the question is that which Prius would be used? A previous generation Prius to keep costs down? Coupled to the latest battery and electric hybrid technology this could be a viable platform.
The Prius hybrid is actually quite a good tech showcase. It also offered a lot of interior space as it was one of the largest C-segment hatchbacks when it was sold here. The car is also super refined and Of course, when it was sold here with tax incentives it cost RM150,000. So how much lower will the price of this new car be? RM130K? Most likely if it is supposed to be packed with unique and leading edge technology. Such tech won't be cheap in my opinion.
But we have to see what's in store for the future. Most of us have been saying that hybrids are a stop gap measure before full electric vehicles, whether with super long range batteries or fuel cell (hydrogen) technology come into play. Right now from what we see, the folks who are at the front of bettery technology could be the Chinese or the Americans (with Tesla) and in terms of hydrogen fuel cells, the Koreans seem to be a step ahead over the Japanese (Hyundai with their Nexo).
Where does this lead to? Well, since the press conference did not actually tell us what type of actual propulsion unit the cars will have, this is all just speculation. We will all have to wait till 2020 to get a glimpse of the prototype.
Lets just wait and see. I would be quite interested to see how they clothe a Toyota / Daihatsu hybrid or electric vehicle chassis with their own design.
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
MITI ANNOUNCES NEW NATIONAL CAR TO SPUR INDUSTRY CURVE
The new national car will be a completely new model with advanced technology, and
will utilise existing competitive and proven vehicle architecture. The project will be a
development based on technology collaboration with a global technical partner
towards delivering advanced vehicle technology, and capabilities in human capital
expansion.
From the Government's standpoint, the national car project is the nation's
industrialisation catalyst, to spur the meaningful participation of Malaysians in
advanced technology adoption. This will create new opportunities for local vendors
and talent to be part of the high technology value chain. Most importantly, local
businesses are able to explore activities that are in demand in the future, in a
conducive environment, minimising risks associated with high investment when such
operations are supplied locally at the infancy stage.
Minister of International Trade and Industry, YB Datuk Darell Leiking announced
DreamEDGE Sdn Bhd as the Malaysian anchor company to deliver the new national
car.
The announcement was made in DreamEDGE's headquarters in Cyberjaya, today.
DreamEDGE has been providing technical and long-term strategic collaboration to
support clients within and outside of Japan, with local Malaysian engineers based in
Japan. Throughout its 10 year history, it has built a capable internal development team
focused on technology innovation, from ideation to prototyping to mass production.
The company has developed the required in-house capabilities and experience to
provide end-to-end automotive engineering services, through a skilled workforce
capable of offering shorter, accelerated lead times in delivering engineering projects.
DreamEDGE has built experience in various applications through the establishment
of multi-vertical mechanical design and process engineering, cutting across industry
verticals including the Oil & Gas, Rail, Defense, Ship Building & Repair and Digital
Dentistry, alongside its capabilities in energy efficient vehicle and motorsport research
and development.
The company also has developed robotics and augmented reality design capabilities
that add value to smart manufacturing for the automotive industry.
As a start, the new national car will take on a new approach of segmenting itself
through exclusive models featuring advanced technologies, but are affordable in its
offerings to the public.
The new national car will be fully designed and developed by Malaysian engineers,
focusing on new upper body, interior and human-machine interface systems, as well
as enhancement of noise, vibration & harshness (NVH) and ride & handling (R&H).
Daihatsu Motor Company will provide support to DreamEDGE in advanced
technology.
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