Perodua Kancil

Overview

The Kancil was Perodua's first car after its founding in 1992. It is a small five-door hatchback vehicle on a monocoque framework that can seat five people. The Kancil, like its predecessors, is a slightly modified Daihatsu Mira L200; rebadging is common in Malaysia's automotive industry, having begun in 1985 with car maker Proton, which based its cars on retired models of Mitsubishi Motors. Subsequent Kancils were only rejuvenated cosmetically as Perodua maintained the monocoque structure and tweaked its engines.

The Kancil is named after the mouse deer (chevrotain) native to Malaysia. The car was available with two engines, a 660 cc version with 31 PS (23 kW) and an 850 with 37 PS (27 kW). Four- or five-speed manual transmissions were available (four-speed was not available in the 850) or a three-speed automatic.

Reception and production

Following its release in 1994, the Kancil became an instant success in Malaysia. The Kancil is popular with beginner drivers and is commonly used in Malaysian driving schools. It was also preferable for its fuel efficiency and ease of parking due to its size. In December 1995, Perodua produced its 50,000th Kancil. By January 1997, 100,000 Kancils had been manufactured, and by 1999 250,000 had been built. Average monthly production during its fifteen years was 4,000, with October 2002 being the most successful month with 7,700 built. In total 722,223 Kancils were built, of which around 14,000 were exported.

The Kancil was sold in the United Kingdom as the Perodua Nippa before it was eventually replaced by Perodua Kelisa. It was also sold rebadged in Indonesia as the Daihatsu Ceria. The Ceria, meaning "happy" or "cheerful" in Indonesian, was introduced at the 11th Gaikindo Auto Expo in Jakarta in July 2001. It had been preceded the year before by the Daihatsu KX-P "concept car" - a standard Kancil equipped with a leather and wood interior. The Ceria was only available with the larger 850 cc engine with a carburettor and 37 PS (27 kW), in two equipment levels: the base model KL and the more extra-spec KX, which received a chromed grille. It was discontinued in 2006.

Facelifts and replacement

The original Kancil underwent two minor facelifts. In 1997, the car's grille and bumpers were better integrated to support to a larger grille and rounded indicator lights. In 2000, the car was given another slight facelift consisting of body-coloured side mouldings, a new grille and reprofiled front bumper with larger indicators.

The Kancil received more extensive restyling in September 2002, featuring rounder headlights, taillights and bumpers; its rear license plate was also repositioned onto its hatch from the bumper below. Its interior features a flushed dashboard with the combination instrumentation panel placed in the middle similar to that of the Toyota Yaris. However, it is still mechanically identical to its predecessor, except for the EZi automatic transmission option which is given a fuel-injected powerplant. From July 2005 a tuned Kancil SE version was also available.

Production of Kancil ceased on 20 July 2009 and replaced by the basic model of Perodua Viva known as Perodua Viva 660BX which comes in manual transmission only.

In Indonesia, the Daihatsu Ceria was later superseded in 2014 by a spiritual successor, Daihatsu Ayla, which is a rebadged variant of the Toyota Agya city car.

United Kingdom

The Perodua Nippa was launched in the United Kingdom in September 1997, and priced at just over £5,000 (cut to £4,999 in 1999) it was the cheapest new car on sale there until it was replaced by the Kelisa four years later.

Models

The Kancil was sold in three variants: