Americans are about to learn who is the king of the road… in Malaysia.
Malaysian social media users are happily (and proudly) introducing Myvi King, one of Perodua’s best-selling cars, to the Americans, and here’s why.
US President Donald J Trump said that Malaysia has many “very small and really cute” cars.
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Trump compared the “small and cute” cars to the Volkswagen Beetle
Trump had the opportunity to visit Kuala Lumpur on October 26 and 27 during the 47th ASEAN Summit, and despite his brief stop, Trump had a fair share of good things to say about our country, including the “great guy” comment about Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
During a media conference yesterday (3 December), Trump said that he saw many small and cute cars not only in Malaysia, but also in South Korea and Japan, where he also stopped by after Malaysia.
“They’re sort of like what the Beetle used to be with the Volkswagen, they’re very small, they’re really cute, and I said “How would that do in this country?”
“You’re not allowed to build them and I have authorised the secretary to immediately approve the production of those cars,” Trump told the media on his administration’s new policy on fuel economy standards.
According to Dax Street, due to regulatory and compliance costs, not to mention the low demand, many automakers find it less profitable to produce or import very small cars in the US market.
Some compact cars commonly sold in Asia are not marketed in the US because they don’t meet federal safety and emissions standards under agencies such as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and associated regulations, as reported by Quartz.
“All hail the King”
Trump’s comment on compact cars in Asia gained widespread attention, including Malaysian social media users. Some netizens started to introduce the King of Malaysian roads, the Myvi, to Americans.
One netizen also mentioned Viva, another product from Perodua, which may see itself becoming an inspiration for compact cars in America.
What do you think of this?
