The Perodua UK Story

Why did Malaysia's second largest car company fail in the UK, despite using proven Japanese technology, having the lowest list price in the market and running costs and was it all Jeremy Clarkson's fault?

[@chaospxl_]

honestly i wish we had a brand like this nowadays. EXTREMELY cheap without any creature comforts, but still a reliable and lovable daihatsu

[@LeHazy]

But if you don't have an iPad as a dashboard how will you subscribe to the anti-lock braking feature?!

[@edgarang]

James May: "Good News!"

[@bsquared627]

Dacia?

[@whyyoulidl]

That'll be the Daewoo...

[@edgarang]

@@whyyoulidl daewoo's car division is long dead, sir.

[@skyrocketautomotive670]

Another great and interesting video, I always had a soft spot for Perodua and Proton alike, good little cars that never got the respect they deserved

[@Lot76CARS]

Many thanks for watching, appreciate it.

[@jonathanthorpe1653]

My mother purchased a purple Nippa from Ashby Scunthorpe. It was a brilliant little car, it never had any problems.

[@TringmotionCoUk]

Former motor trader here. What was missing from the failure was their perceived biodegradability as visible rust frequently appeared, I'm thinking bootlid near handle was one area? Some cars don't survive "British conditions" (it's a thing), I'm pretty sure the peroduas were a bit short on this. Still , they were more desireable than a Matrix 2.0 automatic - which was something

[@Lot76CARS]

That’s a very good point!! I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised… no wonder I’ve never seen one for years!!

[@mattw8332]

It's a shame that Perodua left the UK market. I put the reason for them making that decision as being the same for Daihatsu a year or two earlier: unfavourable market conditions making it uneconomical to ship small city cars half way around the world to sell. I used to see a yellow Nippa that was used by a takeaway for food deliveries. Looked like a jolly little car.

[@Lot76CARS]

Small cars, small profits I guess, a pity as they did offer value for money transport for many. Haven’t seen a Nippa for years!

[@GF-mf7ml]

As a Malaysian It's underpowered piece of trash. Even Toyota Yaris on that time drive way better. Just the import tax make Yaris and every cars imported outside ASEAN double the price. Which means the government make imported cars very expensive and sell cheap local cars.

[@GF-mf7ml]

People in Malaysia: They are underpowered cheap cars. People form asia outside Malaysia: We have Daihatsu anyway. People outside Asia: They are gold!

[@scuckplexity]

People loved underpowered small cars. Which is why car companies like Dacia exist. But Dacia are a much better option in Europe. And at least most Malaysians I've seen do in fact like the Perodua

[@K0Y0I_sis]

I think you need to go out and meet some car ppl around the Gombak area, you will think twice about the "underpowered" part after you saw what the local car scene does to their DRS badge engineered cars. For once just go to galeri kereta's channel and search "YRV" or "L5". You will get the fix you need.

[@thedeadstig123]

I had a perodua kenari, it was a huge improvement over the old Daihatsu Move The thing about the kenari was the first imports were more basic with bright colours and side graphics but only a year after imports began perodua "facelifted" the range....this consisted of all models now getting a spoiler and side rubbing strips but the colour range was basically a choice of silver, gold or grey That's where perodua went wrong in my opinion, they kept trying to make themselves look more premium when in reality the buyers didn't care, they just wanted a cheap reliable car

[@notpoliticallycorrect1303]

I used to have a service contract with a now defunct estate agent who ran 15 Perodua Nippas,they were frequently breaking down,CFI control modules were a common fault at £800+ vat,20+ years ago! In general parts were expensive and took forever to arrive.

[@obesetuna3164]

Must admit that I felt tempted to buy one at the time.

[@Westmoreland348]

I think this is just the kind of car which should be brought back to the UK, simple, efficient cheap and light, It is the antithesis of a bloated 80k electric SUV

[@Lot76CARS]

Exactly, simple A to B transport that doesn’t need two supermarket parking spaces!

[@Westmoreland348]

@Lot76CARS Exactly, I think Jeremy Clarkson did Perodua a disservice and. certainly offended the malaysians by describing them as being manufactured in "jungle town Malaysia by people who were leaves for shoes". His journalistic consistency is a bit erratic as the same cars, wearing Japanese badges, were in his opinion, adorable and bouncy in their natural habitat of Tokyo.

[@GentilsGarage]

Very interesting video Simon and very informative, thank you.

[@TechBaffle]

I reckon if they came back now, especially if it was an affordable small electric car, they would do well. The brand was ideal for people who simply wanted a car, nothing special, nothing stand-out. Same with Daihatsu - two brands which would make a great comeback against rival Chinese brands today.

[@LeHazy]

The Kelisa, like the K11 Micra, was a car I never really liked. Upon owning a K11, I've gained an appreciation for bare-bones lightweight cars you can rev out without breaking the law in, and of course the car's shape has grown on me too, just as the Kelisa has. It's a smoothed off box that's almost as light as a classic mini, similar to the mini in that it stands out while also blending in. It was on my list of cars to pick when I was looking for my new one, but managed to find an exact twin of my first car so I had to go K11 again. Would love a chance to drive one of these.

[@Lot76CARS]

I’m fond of the K11 too, but the white B reg K10 I learned to drive remains etched in my memory.. so easy to drive light controls, for a nervous learner couldn’t be bettered!

[@LeHazy]

@@Lot76CARS I've had a few chances to get a K10, but knowing the K11 and the idea of the 4 speed in the K10 put me off. Gorgeous little motors!

[@kevinbray9550]

Thanks for another insight into a car company that I had forgotten about. Probably because they have zero appeal to me. The " appeal " or lack of was probably their downfall but it seems from your video that they had major supply issues. If your "USP" is price then you need volume and availability of stock. a la " pile it high ,sell them cheap" . If you can't supply the customers will go elsewhere. Desireability wains when you go to a dealer to buy only to be told there is an x month waiting list. You could live with that for a luxury or sports car but not a budget brand small car. I'm of the opinion the reason why Nissan & Toyota have such a UK presence is that they commited to the UK market in a big way with investment ( ok with government incentive) in UK plants. I doubt anyone shed any tears for Perodua's failure to sell well in the UK. Being the cheapest doesn't guarantee success if you can't match supply to demand in a competitive market.

[@Lot76CARS]

Thanks Kevin, you’re absolutely right when an OEM is a one trick pony operation and that price is your only USP, then you are just totally at risk from changes in forex, competition response and natural customer demand ebb and flow… focusing on price alone is a risky game.

[@gabrielv.4358]

I wish we had these Kei Cars in Brazil, they seem so fun

[@trolleyracingmaster7075]

The world would be a much nicer place of car companies made smaller and basic cars. Fun little cars and easy to work on. Less waste and more space for pedestrians, seeing these small cars makes my hatred for crossover SUVs grow even more. I wish the world embraced the kei car :(

[@chrislockey7706]

We had a Kenari for 3 years Brilliant little car but it wasn't easy getting spares for it

[@Lot76CARS]

Its amazing how much trouble free motoring these car gave to drivers.

[@karinkatt7893]

.....well here parts is not an issue....still had 1 bought since year 2000 and still running great...but being tiny its no fun driving it along more modern strong cars...lorries...even a bike overtake you can feel the car wobbling abit...but parts are cheap...very good fuel consumption...size that i could squeeze anywhere to park...kenari is way comfy ..nippa/kancil is too basic.....

[@AmigaA-or2hj]

Good video, but does anyone remember FSO? It was a car manufacturer from Eastern Europe. Their cars were cheap and cheerful, but rust badly.

[@Lot76CARS]

I’m very tempted to make a video about them as well, there’s definitely a story there!

[@shaunabela464]

As a Mini fan, owning a Classic and a BMW MINI, I needed a cheap fuel efficent and practical daily that can be parked anywhere without worrying if someones scratches it etc. The Kelisa is perfect because it handles incredibly well and is fun to drive with is torquee engine. In my eyes it looks and feels.simailr to the classic Mini

[@Lot76CARS]

It does have a bit of a mini look from some angles.

[@tonycalow708]

Both brands suffered from the same problem. Rust!! I have seen quite young cars with rust appearing on the bodywork when a European/British car wouldn't show any rust for at least another 10 years. But for 4.5k, what do you expect.

[@Lot76CARS]

Exactly, you can buy a lot of Waxoyl with the change😉

[@markonmotoring]

Another well researched informative video Simon. I suppose the Arosa may have not been as affordable as the Nippa but with VAG as it's parent company it had stronger appeal, especially with younger buyers who probably wouldn't always be putting cost at the top of the list. I've noticed a pattern with budget car manufacturers in the UK, they do one of two things. They either go on to be successful but cost a similar price to the competition such as Skoda, Dacia, Hyundai and Kia for example or they simply disappear as another budget car comes in to plug the gap at the bottom of the market. I'd forgotten about the Terios from Daihatsu too, they actually didn't look at all bad at the time and for anyone wanting a low cost compact SUV would have been a good choice. In light of today's market trend perhaps that would have been a good direction from the brand to go in.

[@Lot76CARS]

Thanks Mark, you’re right either they absolutely fly, or they fail, there seems to be no in between does there? Some hit a sweet spot for a while, like proton, but in this business, you have to keep moving forward just to standstill, and they didn’t manage that.

[@user-yh7db1hm4x]

My mother had a small slow accident in one an I looked like it had been involved in a high speed disaster! Really poor in a collision massively dangerous absolute pile of tin. Cheap for a reason made from tin foil if you own one scrap it now.

[@baronvonjo1929]

Yeah I love the idea of small cars. I drive a Honda Fit. But I would certainly die going 30 mph hitting a tree lol. Here in the states lots of small cars in that segment topped the most likely to kill drivers lists when we had more subcompacts on sell. Plus incredibly cheap build quality. Along with frankly most of these cars not trying to go after the American market and were just hastily designed for different markets before half hazardly being thrown at the US market. Most likely going to move up to a CUV, SUV, truck for my next car. Not many hatchbacks left. I don't like the trunk of a sedan and both are such a pain to navigate on poor roads. Modern Sedans and hatchbacks are deisgned like they are sporty cars instead of basic commuters. Style over function these days😮‍💨

[@gingernutpreacher]

​@@baronvonjo1929what! The Honda jazz is reasonably well built and you would be fine at hitting a tree at 30 mph yes I know there is a issue with a mild over lap but yes you are going to die if a for pick up hits you not the 150 that ones that's even bigger

[@baronvonjo1929]

@gingernutpreacher My Honda Fit has been the most poorly made car I ever had. Panals fly off when I shut the doors. Massive water leaks in mutiple doors. Removing the panals to find the issue showed terrible craftsmanship from the Honda workers. The resin just thrown everywhere. My rear seat has broken. I have had an oil leak and motor mount bushings have disintegrated on me. The car is wearing quite poorly in the materials. The Honda Fit/Jazz is not a well built car. If this thing can't handle normal life I will never trust it to survive against a tree and certainly not a Camry or F-150. Small cheap cars are throwaway appliances. I will never buy a cheap car again. I don't have the money to justify such poorly built tin cans.

[@Koulis_]

I looked at a Nippa back in the day but went for a Seat Arosa in a nice metallic Nordic Blue, my first new car! The deal on the Arosa was too good to pass up as it came with many optional extras thrown in for free. The quality was impressive too for such a budget priced car and it had a solid VAG feel to it. It also had a fully galvanised chassis and bodywork and showed zero rust during my ownership. I like the look of the Nippa but I think the perceived quality feel and rust proofing might have worked against it moving forward.

[@Lot76CARS]

I think the Arosa was probably the better option if there was a deal, I think Perodua were aiming at getting used car customers a bit like Proton

[@DanoFSmith-yc9tg]

If they made a 2door version, like a golf gti, I bet it would have had a much better reputation as light sporty hatchback.

[@koyaiba]

Very interesting video on the UK side just a small pronounciation fix: Myvi was meant to be "My Vehicle", so the My in Myvi should pronounced as "mai"

[@Lot76CARS]

Thanks for pointing that out!

[@iEnofadov]

Perodua's were never sold in Australia, unlike Proton, which at first seems a little strange, however, when you look at the type of vehicles it was offering, small kei type cars, sales would've been low. Suzuki and Daihatsu did well with the small vehicles they were selling in Australia, but having another small car specialist from an unknown brand like Perodua, it was probably a good choice not to try and establish the brand here.

[@GF-mf7ml]

Perodua quality are worst than Daihatsu. In Malaysia imported cars cost double because of tax. The government sell local cars like Perodua so no import tax. Perodua earn a lot of money in Malaysia, because most are poor. Now Proton sell Chinese car through Proton name because Geely own proton.

[@jereignjayavenhenryjohn6802]

To be blunt and honest with u, as a Malaysian, I not really proud of my local brand , Perodua. Because almost all their are just rebadged Daihatsus & Toyotas. Even Hyundai, used to make crappy cars back then.... and used to rebadged foreign cars as Hyundais.... is starting to become more and more cooler and competitive in today's automotive market🙂👍. At this point, i don't have high hopes for the brand, I don't care what those Haters think or say, I would rather drive my dream car .....than to drive a new car.. That is.... Unfortunately... Based on another new car 🙃 , anyway thanks for making this video cheers 😁

[@miszeamat9870]

Man in Malaysia some of the proton and perodua hatchback are tuner

[@glenjones6980]

They might have had the cheapest car at the time but compare the price then to a base model Sandero some 15 years later and it seems quite high. Dacia teamed up with two established makers (using Renault mechanicals and shared showroom/dealership facilities with distribution handled through the Nissan plant at Washington). The idea Perodua had was sound but history shows it just wasn't executed very well and that's evident in the volume of sales. I don't have my diaries to hand now but I'm pretty confident I took more Dacia models to a single showroom in a year than the whole Perodua network sold in a year. Multiply that by the number of showrooms in my patch covering Northern England and the whole of Scotland and the fact there were another 15 trucks alongside just in my company alone and the difference in sales volumes is staggering.

[@Lot76CARS]

I have to agree that Dacia closed the gap, still an inexpensive car but based on a modern Renault platform meant little compromise. Arguably, the current Sandero is so good there is no compromise, I’ve certainly looked at one to replace our old Yaris.

[@glenjones6980]

@@Lot76CARS £4,500 for the Perodua versus £6,000 for the no frills Sandero (no radio, manual windows), almost an argument the Stepway looked even better value with the creature comforts offered.

[@streamingvideo6654]

James and Richard liked the Kelisa though.

[@Lot76CARS]

Two Top Gear presenters out of three ain’t bad is it!

[@aadhithyamahadevan]

Whatever the car it is, it's really bad to see a car getting hit. Our cars make us reach the destination safe and secure, the least we can do is treat it with respect.

[@Lot76CARS]

I agree, a bit wasteful, having a car for many people is a luxury.

[@tomdrives]

I want one… bad.

[@Emppu_T.]

Would be an interesting unicorn to have today

[@irinadavid800]

The advert customer girl for the black Nippa at 2.59 in that Emilia Clarke from Game of Thrones!

[@Lot76CARS]

Really, no way!!

[@glenjones6980]

She was still primary school age when they were released .

[@richwilliams9895]

With the scrappage scheme People down sized to small cars but from much larger manufactures. Also britain didnt want cheap and nasty. People were flocking out to buy 3 series.

[@TimSlee1]

Like a Yugo but reliable.

[@EportChris]

I always thought the name perodua sounded like a hardy plant or a medical procedure 🤣 my neighbour had a Kelisa for years and reported no issues. Bland but reliable it seemed 👍🏻

[@AmirZaimMohdZaini]

While Perodua exit UK market due to market challenges, they still became a champion in Malaysian market by selling their best-selling model, MyVi (pronounced "Mai-Vee") for consecutive years. However, turns are getting uglier when some of Perodua models were caught in crossfire of Daihatsu scandal few months back recently. Now all Perodua models is just merely carbon copy of Toyota models eg. Aruz (Toyota Rush 2nd generation), Ativa (Toyota Raize/Daihatsu Rocky) and also Alza (Toyota Veloz). Heck, Perodua did trying to bring Japanese CBU models in Malaysia especially Perodua Nautica (rebadged Toyota Rush 1st gen). However, the model was sold too poorly that only at about more than 100 units had been registered. Years later, Perodua tried to bring again Japanese CBU models but this time rebadging Daihatsu Rocky Hybrid model into Ativa Hybrid which they could only sold via invitation and limited to 300 units only.

[@AnthonyDurand1]

Unusual turn but I’ve had two proton and I loved both of them, was always a curious little car the Neo GSX Sport model, shame they sold their soul and never continued even with it being a half British car.. shame Perodua never coerced them into releasing rebadged cars because there’s still a cult behind British-Malaysian cars.. half my friends still rep the original Satria GTI and that car to me was a work of art and amazingly tuneable..

[@tiadaid]

Proton was struggling even in the home market in the 2010s, because Malaysians blame it for pushing the prices of cars in the market up due to protectionist policies (notwithstanding the fact that car prices were already high before Proton was founded). It's only with the investment from Geely that Proton is seeing a renaissance of sort over the past few years, but unfortunately they're now pushing Geely based models.

[@zanmansor4255]

​@@tiadaidbefore Proton was introduced the car prices in Malaysia was very reasonable but Mahathir wanted to make sure his baby can survive so he introduced higher duties and taxes for foreign cars in Malaysia even if they were locally assembled. And what goes up nevet come down...so now Malaysian are paying quite expensive for the cars even for so called local car ie Proton and Perodua. I say so called coz Geely sort of buy over Proton with Proton enjoying success again from welling rebadged Grey's SUV. Perodua benefited from collaboration with Daihatsu and Toyota that some of the models were developed together with Daihatsu and Toyota. Perodua Myvi is one example. Daihatsu completely exits the passenger car market here since it is represented by Perodua anyway.

[@HerrBjork]

The extensive use of AI images is highly off-putting. I won't be returning to this channel

[@Lot76CARS]

I’m sorry you didn’t like them. I haven’t used them much but sometimes struggle to find stock copyright images that visually tells the story. However, i note your comments and will bear that in mind.

[@marquisemiller2108]

​@@Lot76CARSVery professional answer, I'm a new subscriber, I personally enjoyed the video and will be watching more, keep up the good work 👍🏾

[@Lot76CARS]

@@marquisemiller2108 thanks, I really appreciate that!

[@marquisemiller2108]

@@Lot76CARS No problem!!

[@marquisemiller2108]

@@Lot76CARS No problem at all!

[@JohnSmith-qv3ll]

Has a prodder coat 150 pounds ran for 6 months sold for 500 pounds so simple so easy the good old days.

[@Lot76CARS]

Those really were the days! Simple motoring and selling for more money than you paid for it, what’s not to like???

[@iLoveBeingDelusional4U]

Never heard of them, I must have blinked. I bought the new A168 A Class 1.4 Classic in 1998. Kept it until 2012 with 250k on the clock and in mint condition.

[@CleridwenFR]

wh- what is this creepy AI-generated image at 2:04 doing in an informative video??

[@Lot76CARS]

Thanks for commenting. With the benefit of I’d probably not do that again to be honest, on a small screen for edit it wasn’t so apparent but on other devices it is.

[@CleridwenFR]

@@Lot76CARS it's not the creepiness that concerns me, altho that is a bit distracting. What's concerning me is the decision to use fabricated content in-between real life historical footage of these cars and their production, on a video that is supposed to be based on historical facts. I understand the need to illustrate, but in those cases I think it would be better to have some kind of watermark or text that specifies that the content shown is stock footage or AI. Otherwise people may be misinformed about parts of the story, maybe they'll think that this is what the event actually looked like, and such

[@Lot76CARS]

@CleridwenFR good point and I will take that onboard. The event did take place (I did check this with the automotive press from the time) but the photo was AI, apologies I will probably not use AI that depicts people anyway but with caption accordingly.

[@CleridwenFR]

@@Lot76CARS thanks for listening. I don't think this ruined the video or anything, just a detail that bugged me, everything else was fine (I had never heard of Perodua or Proton before!)

[@Lot76CARS]

@CleridwenFR honestly, I appreciate it and I’m working on a couple of videos now so it will help me.

[@philuin9594]

The nippa was a rebadged dihatsu domino!

[@Ashs-mini-vlogs]

My late gran had one of them

[@gabrielv.4358]

5:15 insane! 10k rpms

[@shaneadams3600]

What's with the image at 2:04. Stuff of nightmares.

[@Lot76CARS]

Apologies, Yes, I won’t using AI again for that!

[@shaneadams3600]

@Lot76CARS All good, mate. Figured it was AI gone wrong.

[@Lot76CARS]

@@shaneadams3600 lesson learned for me!

[@user-xn3ti3hn1j]

This is THE Little Toyota.

[@rics1594]

2:03 what's going on with their faces? Haha

[@Lot76CARS]

The perils of playing with AI, I didn’t notice at first 🫢

[@mavericknizmo9182]

Good video but, what's with the crappy AI "art"?

[@Lot76CARS]

In hindsight, I wouldn’t do it the same way again to be honest. In certain circumstances it might work but in that context it didn’t, apologies.

[@mavericknizmo9182]

@@Lot76CARS No worries, I just thought that the AI pictures looked... Really weird and not natural, besides I am very tired of this AI thing taking over. I'm sure it's a thing that can be used for good, but, a lot of people only use it for bad, and in terms of art, it's quite the opposite of creativity

[@anthonyperkins7556]

Toyota killed off Perodua in the UK when they took it over. All gone, like Daihatsu and Mitsubishi.

[@char1737]

It was called the Nipper I'd take two please

[@MrTastytae]

Jeremy Clarkson an automotive bigot. Lol. Sadly the Proton Wira didn't gain any traction in my country, Philippines. People ought to get the Lancer instead.

[@Lobo-ih3bh]

Clarkson is a nob for so many reasons

[@tiadaid]

Perodua shouldn't have existed. The Malaysian market couldn't even support ONE car brand let alone 2, and as cars goes it's not that great - I drove a Myvi once and at 80km/h on the highway the damn car wallows on the road like nobody's business. The only reason why Perodua is Malaysia's best selling brand is simply because of brand snobbery - ignorant Malaysians think that they're getting a cheap Toyota (because of the use of Toyota/Daihatsu engines). It's no wonder then why it died in the UK.

[@aaronbryan5095]

Finally someone in this comment section has spoken the truth. Perodua makes some of the cheapest feeling, nastiest and unsafe cars I've come across. In real world crashes against other cars (excluding the old tin kosong Proton models), their cars and the occupants inside almost always come out in the worse shape, like that crash that happened recently where a Thai guy driving a Nissan Micra swerved into the opposite lane and crash into a family in a Perodua Myvi, from the outside both cars seem to have sustained similar amount of damage but the occupants in the Myvi unfortunately passed away, while the Thai sustained not too serious chest and leg injuries. And I haven't even gotten into how easy it is to end up losing control because of how unstable their cars are. Going 20 km/h through a wider 90 degree corner should be absolutely not a challenge for most cars, but do the same thing in a Viva and it already feels like it's going to flip over. Another one from my experience is the unusually weak stopping power of the 1st gen Myvi that my sister used to owned, even ended up causing my sister to get fined, at that time there's a roadblock in front but we didn't see it because the other cars are blocking the view, but then the drivers in the cars in front of us suddenly slammed on their brakes, my sister did the same but the Myvi just couldn't stop as quickly as the other cars, so she swerved to the left lane to avoid hitting the car in front, but the police must have saw that move and think that it's a driver purposely wanting to jump queue or driving a bit recklessly and they end up handing out a summon to my sister, this all happened mainly due to the Myvi's brakes being absolutely terrible. After a few more years of driving, barely tolerating the fact that it's built like a tin can and everything on it rattles and shakes like crazy and the seats being way too tiny for taller people, sold it off and never looked back again, truly the most cheaply and hastily slapped together car my family has ever owned. With the kind of questionable work culture that's happening at Daihatsu and their subsidiaries in SEA including Perodua, I will be avoiding them like they are some sort of easily transmitted disease, kinda unhappy that the Toyota Vios became a Daihatsu underneath with this latest 4th generation model and is also involved in this Daihatsu certification scandal.

[@kenon6968]

Clarkson is cancer so yes, it was his fault.