KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 3): National carmaker Perodua has opened bookings for its latest model, the Aruz, with estimated on-the-road prices before insurance of between RM72,200 and RM77,200.

President and Chief Executive Officer Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad said the three-row seven-seater sports utility vehicle (SUV) would complement Perodua’s existing product line-up and is expected to garner average sales of 2,500 units monthly or 31,200 units by end-2019.

“The Perodua Aruz is our fourth transformation model, setting new standards for us in quality, space, fuel efficiency and safety – the latter bolstered by a five-star ASEAN NCAP safety rating.

“With these qualities and more, the Perodua Aruz is among the best-value SUVs in Malaysia,” he said in a statement today.

He added that the vehicle comes with a five-year or 150,000 kilometres (KM) warranty, whichever comes first.

Zainal Abidin said the Aruz comes in two variants, the 1.5 X and the 1.5 Advance, and is available in five colour options – Ivory White, Glittering Silver, Electric Blue, Granite Grey and a new Amazon Green.

He said the SUV is powered by an aluminium-block 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine with Dual VVT-i and an electronically-controlled automatic transmission (E-AT) built in Sendayan, Negeri Sembilan.

“These join forces with Eco Idle to give a best-in-class rated fuel efficiency of 15.6 km per litre, allowing it to be government-certified as an energy-efficient vehicle (EEV),” he said.

Other features, he said, include vehicle stability control (VSC), hill start assist (HSA), international-standard attachment points for child safety seats in passenger cars (ISOFIX) and six airbags, which are all standard across the range.

He added that all variants also get a touch-screen radio with reverse camera display, digital air-con with two memory settings, air vents for the rear passengers and a built-in toll card reader.