Peugeot is very popular in Spain... which, guess what, has hot weather. Much hotter than Malaysia.

VW engines are decent to drive, and quite powerful for their size, but the fuel consumption... I only got 550 km out of a full tank (had to fill in 50 liters...), and I was mostly doing 160, sometimes 200. Going light on the accelerator.

One thing though... avoid the DSG. Their manual boxes have improved a lot and are good fun these days. No need to worry about rolling back down a hill... just activate the auto hold function, and it will hold the brakes for you until you roll forward. VW needs to bring in manual models... they are nothing like the crappy Japanese manual gearboxes you learn to drive on. Easy to use, fun, ...