Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi has beaten out Volkswagen Group and Toyota Motor Company for the 2018 passenger car sales crown, with a total of 10.76 million sales worldwide. According to figures released by the various brands, the combination of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors accounted for 10...
The Daihatsu Copen Coupe will make its in-the-flesh debut at the 2019 Tokyo Auto Salon before going into a limited production run. Based on the 2016 Copen Cero concept, the production version of the coupe features a carbon-fibre reinforced plastic roof and a glass rear window which doubles as a hatch...
Japanese tuner Liberty Walk has unveiled a new body kit package, which turns the cute little convertible hardtop Daihatsu Copen into baby Godzilla. We're not sure why Liberty Walk chose the Copen as its starting point, although the convertible's easily-removable resin body panels may have played a part in the decision...
The Daihatsu DN Compagno and the Daihatsu DN Pro Cargo concept cars will make their debuts at the 2017 Tokyo motor show. The Daihatsu DN Compagno concept is billed as a "compact four-door coupe for active seniors". Although the car features four doors, the aggressive coupe-like roof line places "priority on the front seat" passengers...
Ah Valentine's Day... some of us look forward to it and some of us think it's a commercial load of rubbish. Either way, today will be an assault on the senses with love hearts, roses, chocolate and teddy bears galore – and there can be no escaping the commercial barrage of the love-struck...
For a relatively small car company, Daihatsu is planning to put on a big show at the upcoming Tokyo Auto Salon. The Toyota-owned small car specialist will showcase 11 custom concepts all based on current production models that have been neatly modified. The 11 concepts fall under four overarching themes; Grand Custom, Sporza, Beach Cruising or Cross Field...
At a press conference today, Toyota has confirmed that it will purchasing the remaining portion of Daihatsu that it doesn't already own. Toyota will acquire the remainder of Daihatsu for around $4.6 billion in an all-stock transaction, with Toyota offering 0.26 of its shares for every share of Daihatsu...
Toyota is reportedly mulling over plans to purchase the remainder of Daihatsu, and is also said to be thinking of a tie-up with Suzuki. The Nikkei is reporting that Toyota is actively considering purchasing the 48.8 percent of Daihatsu that it doesn't currently own during the first half of this year...
Unveiled at the Tokyo motor show, the Daihatsu Nori Ori concept not only extracts the maximum amount of passenger space from its small footprint, but makes it easy for passengers to exit and enter. Daihatsu says that the Nori Ori concept previews what a "multi-use commuter [car] of the near future" might look like...
The pint-size Daihatsu Tempo concept made its debut the 2015 Tokyo motor show. The Tempo isn't the first concept car that can operate as a food truck — remember the Peugeot Foodtruck concept that debuted earlier this year at the Milan Design Fair? — but it's probably the first that fits into the kei car category...
Daihatsu may be long gone from Australian showrooms, but Japan’s oldest carmaker is still going strong overseas with a number of compact passenger and commercial vehicles on offer. The carmaker’s most recent launch was the new-generation Copen roadster, but other models familiar to Australian buyers - the Terios and the Sirion - are also still available in overseas areas...
The second generation Daihatsu Copen convertible kei car has been unveiled at a ceremony in Japan. Looking not too dissimilar to last year's Kopen concept, the production vehicle is spelt with a 'C' like its predecessor. The Copen's two-piece folding hardtop can be raised or lowered in 20 seconds via a switch in the centre tunnel...
The biggest automotive brands in Japan are joining forces to work on ways to make internal combustion engines more efficient. A new consortium known as the Research Association of Automotive Internal Combustion Engines (AICE) has been established, with Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Suzuki and Daihatsu all signed up with the aim of improving fuel efficiency levels by 30 per cent for internal combustion petrol and diesel engines by 2020...
Daihatsu has revealed two more 'kei car' concepts bound for this month's Tokyo motor show, seemingly shrinking a truck and a minivan in the process. As with the three Daihatsu Kopen concepts revealed last week – and the Honda S660 concept – the FC Deco Deck truck and Deca Deca minivan fit into the Japanese domestic market’s miniature ‘kei car’ class of vehicle...
Three new Daihatsu Kopen concepts have been revealed ahead of their debut at next month's Tokyo motor show, suggesting the Japanese 'kei car' could make a return to production, albeit fronted by the letter 'K' rather than 'C'. Discontinued last year, the previously-named Daihatsu Copen was a 3395mm-long, 830kg front-wheel-drive convertible with a folding hardtop...
Daihatsu has debuted eight concept cars at the Indonesia motor show in a typically bold move for the quirky Japanese car maker. The models all form part of Daihatsu's plan to become a market leader in compact cars that are fuel efficient and affordable. The UFC 2 concept (pictured top) is a small, seven-seat people-mover made for the Indonesian market...
