The Nautica, the next Kembara from Perodua

Perodua has released more details of its highly anticipated replacement for the aging Kembara.

After Toyota launched its Rush in Malaysia, Perodua has hinted on some details that they too will be introducing a variation of Toyota’s Rush, albeit in fully imported from Japan CBU form, unlike the Rush which is imported from Daihatsu’s plant in Indonesia. The vehicle will be christended Nautica, and it will be fully imported from Japan in CBU form. And being a CBU, expect prices to reach into regions of RM 100k. Basically, Toyota's Rush will be a 7-seater version while Perodua's Nautica will be a 5-seater version.

The thing that I am interested to find out is how will the Malaysian market response to a multi-brand introduction of vehicles. In many developed European, North American and Japanese markets, it is common for different manufacturers to collaborate on a new project to achieve further economics of scale. Developing a new model is not for the faint hearted as investments can run into hundreds of millions and possibly even billions for a high-end model.

In Europe, Mitsubishi partnered with the PSA group for its new Outlander. Under the Mitsubishi-PSA (Peugeot Citroen alliance), Mitsubishi will license its Outlander crossover SUV to PSA in exchange for a diesel engine, a critical item required to compete in Europe, and an area where PSA’s expertise is renowned for. As a result, the car can be had under 3 different brands with slightly different front fascia – the Citroen C-Crosser, Peugeot 4007 and Mitsubishi Outlander.

Toyota too has a similar arrangement with PSA, but the deal is to share the cost of building a new factory dedicated to the European minicar segment. It’s Europe market only Aygo rolls of the same production line as the Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1.

Closer to home, the Indonesian market has been adapted to multi-brand marketing years ago, with the Toyota Avanza and it twin brother Daihatsu Xenia sold by their respective dealer network. So is the Toyota Rush and Daihatsu Terios in Indonesia. The Indonesians seem to be responding relatively OK to it, with Toyota badged models having slightly higher specs and pricing.

While the Malaysian Toyota Rush and Perodua’s new Nautica are not exactly clones (in fact they are two very different animals), they still share the same overall design and I guess this could be a prelude to more of such arrangements to come. The problem is that in most other “fair-free” economy car markets, multi-brand marketing is used to extend a product’s reach into lower / higher segments with either a lower / higher premium brand. Volkswagen uses Audi for the luxury segment and Skoda for the budget segment. But over here in Malaysia, I can see that this is not the case. A Perodua is priced higher than a Toyota! The motivation behind Perodua’s action is more political rather than economics, as the expected volume would be so small. Let’s see what does Perodua say in its press release when the Nautica is launched.



The long wheel base 7-seater (similar to Toyota's Rush) models have a longer rear three-quarter window. 



The more posh short-wheel base models (top) have a slightly more plush looking center console stack.




The differences between Toyota Rush and its Daihatsu siblings is rather complicated one. I shall try to give a simple summary here. The vehicle is a result of a joint development between Toyota and its mini-car specialist subsidiary, Daihatsu. There are basically 2 different body types offered – a 5-seater short wheelbase and a 7-seater long wheelbase. At the moment, powertrain options are a 1.3-litre engine for the short-wheel base models mated to a full-time 4WD transmission while the long-wheel base models will feature a 1.5-litre engine mated to a 2WD transmissions. Daihatsu badged models are either called Bego / Terios depending on market while Toyota badged models are called Rush. The 7-seater long wheelbase models are targeted at developing markets, whose society demographics is usually that of a larger family than say a typical European or Japanese family. Of course, it has to be built to a low cost level, which explains the differences in interior trim between the short wheelbase and long wheelbase models.



Images from MotorTrader.
The ASEAN market variants of the Rush / Terios get a slightly different centre cluster stack as well. Note the design of the Malaysian / Indonesian versions of Rush compared to its other 7-seater brethrens. As expected due to its low volume (due to its high pricing), pictures from Perodua Nautica’s teaser site reveal the interior remains pretty much the same as the Japanese / European market SWB Rush / Bego / Terios. The only noticeable difference is a different steering wheel logo.

Also, there will be certain political implications to Perodua’s new direction. As you know, Daihatsu’s outpost in Malaysia has a rather complicated arrangement, with Perodua being a state-owned national car company with Daihatsu as its technical partner and chief investor.

As Chips Yap of AutoCar ASEAN and MTM puts it in his forum, I guess the answer will have to wait till we hear from the MD of Perodua in the near future when we are introduced to he Nautica. But I think that it could mark a shift for Perodua towards an open environment, and in this environment, it would need a wider range of products - like its non-national rivals. So it may look at a mix of CBU and CKD products, depending on the potential volumes for economies of scale.

We all know that the prices for Proton and Perodua models to date have been 'adjusted' through government incentives for national carmakers. They cannot be as cheap otherwise, more so when they lack the regional economies of scale of players like Toyota and Honda.

Many have been calling for an end to the special privileges given to Proton and Perodua so the playing field can be really level for all. But this is what happens when you do take away those special privileges - the real prices will be applied. Surely you do not expect Perodua to sell a model which is CBU at a lower price than the real one? Who picks up the difference then?

True, Perodua's mission has been one of a national carmaker and it has demonstrated that. But maybe they are also being realistic that if they are to go further as a regional player and hopefully, a global one, they will need to change their role. Proton has stubbornly stuck to the role, unrealistic as it is in today's environment, and see how it struggles to move ahead.

National pride is one thing but what pride will there be in having a company that makes cars that are flawed in design and still can't get quality consistent? And for those who argue that handing Proton to a big player like VW or GM would take is Malaysian identity away, let me ask you this: now that TATA has bought over Jaguar and Land Rover, are you going to call those brands Indian? Or would you still say 'the British brand'? Renault basically owns and runs Nissan but does anyone call Nissan a French company? Ford owns Volvo and it's still the Swedish car brand.

So would Proton not continue to be called the Malaysian brand even if it is owned by another company? In fact, GM must wish people would overlook the Korean origins of GM-DAT, which was the former Daewoo. But people still regard the Optra and Aveo as 'Korean cars' even though they carry the badge of an American brand.

Let's not pass judgement on Perodua just yet and see what its direction is. Maybe it's reshaping itself to face realities and this is a tough bullet to bite for now as its pricing levels become 'real'.