Perodua officially confirmed the existence of its brand new SUV, tentatively called the Perodua D55L. Not only is it open for booking now, Perodua also revealed quite a number of interesting details for the SUV, including its estimated pricing and autonomous driving capability – that’s right, this (relatively) affordable SUV is capable of level 2 autonomous driving.

Available in three variants (X, H, and AV), the D55L is estimated to retail between RM62,500 to RM73,400. If these prices are final, Perodua’s upcoming model will be one of the more affordable SUVs in the market now, and it’s packed with a number of attractive features too.

One of them is definitely the inclusion of a whole range of safety features. According to Perodua, the D55L comes with a new Advanced Safety Assist (ASA) system that is actually available on all variants of the SUV. The new ASA is capable of operating at higher speeds over the current version, and Perodua even said that the system can detect two-wheeled vehicles.

Complementing the ASA system of the D55L are a number of other safety features, including Lane Departure Warning and Prevention (standard on all variants). The range-topping AV model also gets Lane Keep Control, Blind Spot Monitor, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, and Adaptive Cruise Control. These safety features are enough for the D55L to be capable of level 2 autonomous driving.

“The Perodua D55L AV is Malaysia’s most affordable level 2 autonomous vehicle, bringing state-of-the-art safety and convenience to a wider audience,” said the CEO of Perodua, Dato’ Zainal Abidin Ahmad.

Aside from these safety features, the D55L is also Perodua’s first-ever model with a turbocharged engine paired with a continuously variable transmission (CVT), which is said to be capable of returning an impressive rated fuel efficiency of 18.9km/l. Though the carmaker didn’t reveal the exact capacity of the engine, it’s likely the same 1.0L turbo mill (98PS, 140Nm of torque) powering the Daihatsu Rocky and Toyota Raize; the D55L is based on these two models.

Other revealed specifications of the D55L include LED headlights (standard across the range), Adaptive Driving Beam (for the H and AV variants), a 7-inch multi-info display, and a rather large 9-inch touch-enabled infotainment screen with voice recognition.

“As the government’s sales tax exemption is set to expire in end-June, don’t wait to book – our authorised sales advisors are eager to serve you and tell you more about the Perodua D55L at all our sales outlets nationwide,” said Dato’ Zainal. With its competitive pricing and compelling features, we expect a lot of eager consumers would want to get their hands on the D55L.

In fact, the Perodua D55L may even drive some customers away from the Proton X50 with its long wait, even if both of these SUVs don’t exactly belong in the same class.

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