After a short teaser period, the 2020 Perodua Bezza facelift is now officially launched. This comes just five days after order books were open, and three and a half years since the sedan first hit the Malaysian market. In that time, the Bezza has become a firm favourite in the entry level with 184,000 units sold, and if you’re living in urban areas, a popular workhorse for ride hailing drivers.

Let’s start with the obvious changes. The Bezza wears a significantly bolder look, thanks to a combination of an aggressive new bumper with sharp faux vent cutouts holding the fog lamps (no fog lamps for 1.0L), slimmer headlamps that are now LEDs (standard across the range), and a grille that’s now horizontal (chrome trim for 1.3L, silver for 1.0L). No LED daytime running lights, but the optional GearUp bodykit adds LED position lights at the lower edge of the bumper.

At the rear, the most obvious cue are the sharp cutouts on the bumpers that mirror those on the front. The Bezza’s rear underside was rather exposed in its original form, and that issue was somewhat addressed by a redesigned rear bumper (with a deeper skirt) less than a year in. Now, the tonggek look has been put to rest, for good. The rear bumper has also been extended slightly for better aerodynamics.

The pre-facelift’s chrome strip bridging the tail lamps is now in two-tone – chrome over gloss black. The side skirts, which are standard across the board, are also in two-tone, black and body colour. The AV gets electric retractable side mirrors, while the rest get power-adjustable mirrors with turn signals. This means that for the 1.0L, there are no more signal lamps on the fenders, but the B pillars are body coloured instead of blacked out.

As for wheels, it’s 14-inch items for the 1.0L and 15-inch two-tone alloys for the 1.3L variants. There are also two new paint options called Garnet Red (1.3L only, as seen here) and Granite Grey to join four other colours – Sugar Brown, Ocean Blue, Glittering Silver and Ivory White (solid).

Inside, the dashboard architecture hasn’t changed, but P2 revised the full width trim’s design for an obvious new look without having to redesign the whole thing. Previously just a plain black bar in the AV, there’s now a silver upturned cradle for the head unit, which is a 2-DIN touchscreen unit for the AV (with reverse camera). The new trim also sees some surfacing around the side air con vents.

The Bezza’s meter panel has been redesigned. Gone are the two red “ears” cupping the dials, which themselves have new faces. The illumination is white.

Kit wise, two items stand out. One is the above-mentioned LED headlamps, which are standard across the board. This sets the Bezza FL apart from the Axia, and also its chief entry sedan rival.

The other big ticket item is Perodua’s Advanced Safety Assist (ASA) 2.0 suite of driver assist systems, which includes Pedestrian Detection (up to 50 km/h), Pre-Collision Warning (up to 100 km/h), Pre-Collision Braking (up to 80 km/h), Front Departure Alert and Pedal Misoperation Control. First seen on the current Myvi and then the Aruz (in 2.0 form), ASA was most recently included in the Axia facelift that debut in September 2019. The Axia is the most affordable car in Malaysia with AEB and the Bezza is the most affordable sedan to be such equipped.

ASA 2.0 is for the top AV only, but all 1.3L variants get Vehicle Stability Control (VSC, previously AV only) and ABS/EBD is standard across the board. All variants get dual front airbags. With its driver assist pack, the Bezza AV is ASEAN NCAP five-star rated.

Other equipment highlights include keyless entry with push start (1.3L only), front corner sensors (1.3L only, reverse sensors standard for all) and a reverse camera (AV only). The range topping variant also gets leather seats with suede inserts.

Lastly, there’s no change in the powertrain department, which has a 67 hp/91 Nm 1.0L three-cylinder VVT-i engine and a 94 hp/121 Nm 1.3L four-pot. The latter NR engine comes with Dual VVT-i and Eco Idle auto start-stop, which helps fuel efficiency go as high as a claimed 22 km/l – a strong point for the Bezza. The 1.0L can be had with a five-speed manual or four-speed auto, while the 1.3L is auto-only.

Minor but potentially significant changes not listed in brochure include improvements to the suspension for better handling and stability, as well the rear seat angle, which goes from 23 to 27 degrees.

The 2020 Perodua Bezza facelift is priced from RM34,580 for the 1.0L G Manual and RM36,580 for the 1.0L G Auto. The 1.3L models are auto-only – the 1.3L X is yours for RM43,980 while the AV sells for RM49,980. All prices are OTR without insurance. It’s a slight increase over the pre-facelift prices, but kit count has increased as well. The warranty is for five years or 150,000 km. There’s a full range of GearUp accessories as well, and we detail them here.

By the way, the pre-facelift range consists of the 1.0L GXtra MT at RM34,490, the 1.0L GXtra AT at RM36,290, the 1.3L Premium X MT at RM40,090, the 1.3L Premium X AT at RM41,890 and the AV at RM47,790. That means that the new line-up has one less variant – four vs five – and the 1.3L MT has been dropped.

“We are confident the bolder and smarter 2020 Perodua Bezza will continue to carry the torch – our aim is to sell 4,000 units monthly on average,” said Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad, president and CEO of Perodua. So, what do you think of the refreshed Bezza next to the Proton Saga, which was revamped last year? Full specs and comparisons at CarBase.my.

-paultan