27 Facts About Daihatsu

Historically, Daihatsu was well known for building three-wheeled vehicles and off-road vehicles, while currently the company offers a range of kei car models, along with kei trucks, kei vans and other larger small cars in Japan.

Daihatsu produces entry-level compact cars in Japan and Southeast Asia, which are supplied to global emerging markets under the Toyota brand.

Name "Daihatsu" is a combination of the first symbol of Osaka and the first of the word "engine manufacture".

Daihatsu was formed in March 1951 as a successor to Hatsudoki Seizo Co.

Daihatsu then focused on railroad diesel engines, working with Niigata Engineering, and Shinko Engineering Co.

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Daihatsu was an independent automaker until Toyota became a major shareholder in 1967 as the Japanese government intended to open up the domestic market.

Daihatsu pulled out of the European market by 2013, citing the persistently strong yen, which makes it difficult for the company to make a profit from its export business.

Under the internal company, Daihatsu is responsible of product planning and quality planning of the vehicles, while both Toyota and Daihatsu are jointly responsible of product and business planning.

Daihatsu has supplied cars under different badges to various automakers in the past.

Daihatsu currently provides engines and transmissions to Malaysia's Perodua, which manufactures and markets rebadged Daihatsu cars locally, and sold a small number of Perodua cars in the United Kingdom and Ireland until 2012.

Daihatsu ended its Australian operations in March 2006 after almost 40 years there.

In Trinidad and Tobago, Daihatsu has had a market presence since 1958 when its Mark I Midget was a popular choice among market tradesmen.

Daihatsu had little or no presence in countries with protectionist barriers such as France and Spain - where local manufacturers targeted the same market segment as Daihatsu.

Daihatsu sold mainly in the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Daihatsu announced on January 13,2011 that sales of Daihatsu motor cars would cease across Europe on January 31,2013.

Daihatsu had no stock of new Daihatsu cars in the UK at the time, and did not intend to import any more cars in the interim period.

Daihatsu has had a long-running development program for electric vehicles, beginning with the production of "pavilion cars" for the 1970 Osaka World Expo and continuing with the production of golf carts and vehicles for institutional use, such as the DBC-1.

Daihatsu showed more prototypes through the 1970s, for instance at the 1979 Sydney Motor Show, and then joined the Japanese Electric Vehicle Association's PREET program with an electric version of the Max Cuore kei car.

In November 1974, Daihatsu released the Hallo, a tilting trike powered by an electric motor and two 12V batteries.

In December 2011, Daihatsu released the Pico EV Concept, a quadricycle powered by an electric motor.

In November 2021, Daihatsu released their first mass-produced full hybrid system.

In 1973, Daihatsu presented an electric tilting trike at the Tokyo Motor Show.

Daihatsu had a second logo, based on a stylized drawing of Osaka Castle.

Except in Indonesia, the first Daihatsu logo was used in brochures until about 1977 or 1978.

Daihatsu maintains an office in Tokyo that was originally opened as Hatsudoki Seizo Co.

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Daihatsu opened two factories in Nakatsu, Oita starting in November 2004 with Nakatsu Plant 1, followed by Nakatsu Plant 2 in November 2007.

The Malaysian car manufacturer Perodua, in which Daihatsu has a minority stake, operates two factories in Rawang, Selangor.