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Malaysian government names DreamEdge as lead company for new national car
Paul Tan, 13 Aug '19

A year after the idea was first mooted, the government has officially revealed the identity of the company that be responsible for the new national car, and it is DreamEdge. The announcement was made by minister of international and Industry Datuk Darell Leiking at an event in Cyberjaya earlier this morning.

He said the Malaysian innovation and digital engineering services company will lead the project, which will be totally privately-funded. It was also announced that Daihatsu Motor Company will provide technology support for the programme, but it will not have any equity in the project,

Few specific details of the vehicle were divulged during the briefing. It was however revealed that the car will be a plus-sized B-segment sedan, with a regular ICE (internal combustion engine) or hybrid powertrain. The car will be an exclusive model with a new approach to segmentation.

A brief timeline for the new national car was offered during the presentation - following the announcement, the engineering capability model mock-up is set to be shown at the end of August. Mid-September will see the kick-start of additional recruitment for the project, and the company will show the first model prototype of the new national car in March 2020, with the car set to make its market debut in March 2021.

The announcement of the project lead has been months overdue. In April, it had been reported that the government was in the final phase of deciding the project's strategic partner, having shortlisted the list of potential candidates down to two companies.

DreamEdge is a Cyberjaya-based company with a broad portfolio of services, ranging from CAD/CAE modeling and analysis to product design and development on a broad spectrum of areas, including automotive applications. According to its website, the company has, among other things, been involved in turnkey projects in new vehicle development, which involves design, prototype development and developing the systems for mass production.

The NNCP first surfaced into public view in June last year when, speaking at the Nikkei Conference in Japan, prime minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad mentioned the idea of a new national car. The topic evolved into a series of discussions in the following months until October, when the first defined timelines were offered - a prototype was due this year, and the car was to roll out in 2020.