The forthcoming new national car that is to be developed by DreamEdge could see the contract to supply advance driving assistance systems awarded to Perodua, according to a report by Berita Harian.

In its latest application in Perodua models, the automaker’s Advanced Safety Assist (ASA) suite is comprised of Pre-collision Warning (PCW), Pre-collision Braking (PCB), Front Departure Alert (FDA) and Pedal Misoperation Control (PMC), working with the assistance from the forward-facing stereo camera.

In October, Daihatsu confirmed its involvement with the new national car project, although full production was then announced to be delayed until 2022. This is part of a revised timeline that sees the release of a working prototype pushed back to mid-2020, and the Affin Hwang report reiterated that the model will be a plus-sized B-segment sedan and not a C-segment vehicle as initially announced.

DreamEdge is aiming to selling 3,000 units of the vehicle in its first year of sales, which corresponds to an annual rate of 36,000 units. The forthcoming car will be powered by either an internal combustion or hybrid powertrain, which will be supplied by technology partner Daihatsu.

The new car is set to feature connectivity as well as the aforementioned advanced driver assistance systems, and although it will share a platform and systems with the Japanese manufacturer, the new national car would not be another rebadged Daihatsu, the Affin Hwang report noted.

Affin Hwang Investment Bank said it a report that a minimum of RM600 million has been earmarked as an initial start-up cost, though the establishing of a dealer network and production-related preparation could drive cost overruns up to RM1 billion.

-paultan