Daihatsu

Daihatsu, Isuzu, Mazda, Subaru and Suzuki are the latest Japanese automakers to join Monet, a firm led by Toyota and Softbank, and with significant investments from Honda and Hino. The company's first goal is to roll out on-demand car services, and by 2023 it hopes to have self-driving vehicles based on Toyota's e-Palette concepts (above).

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.

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.

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 unveiled an all-new Daihatsu A-Concept compact hatch at the 2011 Indonesian International Motor Show in Jakarta. The A-Concept may form the basis for an upcoming compact production car which could be sold in Asian markets.