In Cars, Local News / By Danny Tan / 6 August 2019 11:43 am / 26 comments

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Here’s one of the proposals for Malaysia’s New National Car Project (NNCP) – the Mimco Alif by Alam Perkasa Consortium (APC). Alif’s the model name and Mimco stands for the Malaysian International Motor Company.

The Mimco Alif was conceptualised as a mid-sized electric SUV, and was reportedly penned by famous designer Giorgetto Giugiaro and his son, Fabrizio (who are said to be part of the consortium).

These renderings are based on APC’s sketches released by The Edge last month, and the goal was to turn sketch into production reality. That would mean making the proportions realistic (sketches are always extremely squat and wide), as well as reducing the size of the wheels and “muscles” on the body.

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As you can see here, the details that make the Mimco Alif unique have been retained – see the beltline that melds into the windowline, the front grille ‘M’ light signature (grille is blocked off, EV-style) and the full-width LED rear lights – but details such as the headlamps have been “productionised” here. The Mimco logo is a blue roundel with a stylised head of a bird, finished in gold.

What do you think of our take on the production Mimco Alif? We think that it’s a handsome, if rather conventional-looking crossover. An SUV from a start-up with design help from a famous name isn’t new, even in these parts – let’s compare the Mimco Alif with Vietnam’s Vinfast LUX SA2.0, which is based on the F15 BMW X5 but re-sculptured by Pininfarina. Which do you fancy?

There are ambitious plans for this car, which is set to debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2020 before going on sale in 2022. The consortium plans to sell 60,000 units of the Alif per year, with about 80% being exported to places like Europe and the USA. Against an initial private investment of RM5 billion, APC aims to rake in an annual turnover of RM14 billion. Yup, that’s what they said.