The all-new Perodua Axia was previewed in Malaysia on February 8, 2023, with uncamouflaged photos coming out the same day.

The hatchback is the Malaysian sibling of the upcoming Daihatsu Ayla and our very own Toyota Wigo, the latter launching globally on February 13, 2023.

Our colleagues have also been able to drive the new hatchback, which uses the Daihatsu New Global Architecture platform and replaces the old 4-speed automatic with a continuously variable transmission.

Ahead of the Axia’s Valentine’s Day official debut, another group that was able to test out the car was the ASEAN New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP), which gave the car four out of five stars in its tests. 

This is the independent organization that conducts crash tests on vehicles for the ASEAN market, which includes the Philippines. Its rating system accounts for the following under the ASEAN NCAP Overall Assessment Protocol 2021-2025:

• Adult Occupant Protection (AOP) – 40 percent

• Child Occupant Protection (COP) – 20 percent

• Motorcycle Safety (MS) – 20 percent

• Safety Assist (SA) – 20 percent

Not quite top marks

ASEAN NCAP tested the Axia 1.0 SE, which comes standard with driver and passenger airbags, along with anti-lock brakes, stability control and ISOFIX anchors.

The top-spec Axia adds to this standard side and curtain airbags.

The test vehicle was fitted with the optional active-safety suite that includes autonomous braking, lane-departure warning, automatic high beams, and rear cross-traffic alert. Lane-keep assist is not available on the Axia.

Here’s how the little Perodua fared:

• AOP: 25.65/32 points

• COP: 43.43/51 points

• MS: 7.00/16 points

• SA: 16.50/21 points

Overall, the Axia got 73.55 out of 100, which is good for a four-star rating.

Marginal side-impact protection

Although frontal protection was Adequate to Good for the Axia, side-impact protection for the driver’s chest area was only Marginal, partly because of the lack of side airbags.

ASEAN NCAP also found critical safety problems for certain child restraints when placed on the center-rear seat, which does not have an ISOFIX anchor.

“In the assessment, the new Perodua Axia has performed remarkably well,” said ASEAN NCAP in its report. 

“It achieved the maximum rating of 5 stars for AOP, COP and Safety Assist (SA) categories,” the group added. “For the category of Motorcyclist Safety (MS), the maximum rating of 4 stars was achieved.”

Given that the next-generation Wigo will likely be based on this, can the Toyota version bag the coveted five stars?