History Of The Kancil

The first Malaysian compact car Perodua Kancil


The Perodua Kancil (also known as the Perodua Nippa in the United Kingdom, and the Daihatsu Ceria in Indonesia) is a city car manufactured by Malaysian automobile manufacturer Perodua since 1994. The Kancil is named after the mousedeer (chevrotain) native to Malaysia.

Overview

The Kancil was Perodua's first car after its founding in 1993. It is a small five-door hatchback vehicle on a monocoque framework that could seat five people. The Kancil and its predecessors are actually a modified Daihatsu Mira through badge engineering. Badge engineering is prevalent in Malaysia's automotive industry since it began in 1985 with carmaker Proton. Subsequent Kancils were only rejuvenated cosmetically as Perodua maintained the monocoque structure and tweaked with its engines.

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 easier for 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.

The Kancil was sold in the United Kingdom as the Perodua Nippa before it replace by Perodua Kelisa, and rebadge in Indonesia between 2000 and 2006 as the Daihatsu Ceria.

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 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.

Although the Perodua Viva, a new model based on the new Daihatsu Mira, was widely considered a legitimate replacement for the long-running Kancil, Perodua had decided to continue selling the old Kancil and replaced the Perodua Kelisa instead on May 11, 2007.

Models

The Kancil currently was sold in three variants:
Kancil 660EX- 659 cc three-cylinder carbureted in-line engine, 29 hp (22.1 kW), five-speed manual transmission, black bumpers and door rub strips. RM 22,055.
Kancil 850EX- 847 cc three-cylinder carbureted in-line engine, 36 hp (25.5 kW), five-speed manual transmission, body-color bumpers and rub strips. RM 27,227.
Kancil 850EZi- 847 cc three-cylinder fuel-injected in-line engine, 49 hp (34.7 kW), three-speed automatic transmission, body color bumpers and rub strips. RM 32,039.