Perodua did something cheeky during the Perodua Axia's launch gambit last night. During one of the scenes showcasing the Axia's claimed fuel economy, the numbers counted up to 18.2 km/L and paused for a while before rising up to the Axia's claimed 21.6 km/L.

No official word about it, but this is clearly a reference to the Axia's number beating the fuel economy figures released by Proton on the Iriz's new 1.6 litre VVT engine last week - 5.5 litres per 100 km at a constant 90 km/h, which translates to 18.2 km/L. Proton also claims NEDC cycle numbers of 6.6 litres and 7.4 litres per 100km for the manual and CVT variants respectively.

You can watch the video below for the launch gambit - skip to the 1 minute 26 second mark for the part with the fuel economy numbers.