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 RM 34,580 for the 1.0L G Manual and RM 36,580 for the 1.0L G Auto. The 1.3L
models are auto-only – the 1.3L X is yours for RM 43,980 while the AV sells for
RM 49,980. 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 RM 34,490, the 1.0L GXtra AT at RM 36,290, the 1.3L Premium X MT
at RM 40,090, the 1.3L Premium X AT at RM 41,890 and the AV at RM 47,790. That
means that the new line-up has one less variant – four vs five – and the 1.3L
MT has been dropped.