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() is a Japanese manufacturer of cars, especially compact/small cars. These cars are also known as kei jidosha in Japan.
Daihatsu researches hybrid vehicles and two stroke diesel engines.
The name "Daihatsu" is a combination of the first kanji (Japanese character) for Osaka (大) and the first of the word "engine manufacture" (発), put together they are pronounced "daihatsu".
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Company history
1907 Hatsudoki Seizo Co., Ltd. founded
1951 Company renamed: Daihatsu Motor Co., Ltd.
1992 Daihatsu USA closed in February
It was reported on 31 March, 2005, that Toyota will pull Daihatsu out of the Australian market, after sales dwindled severely. Sales were down a third so far in 2005, from 816 to just 541 vehicles. This is in spite of the new-car market in Australia growing 7%. Daihatsu will completely wind up sales in March 2006. Daihatsu has been in the Australian market for almost 40 years. The same was thought about Daihatsu's operations in Chile, where it's a well known brand for its '70s models as the Charade or Cuore, after sales of around 10 units in 2004 and 2005 (each year). But Toyota announced it will take the distribution for Daihatsu in Chile, to get back to the glory years of the brand there. There will be many new models as well. Maybe the same can happen in Australia. Daihatsu is quite popular in Venezuela nowadays, with the Terios.
Daihatsu has supplied cars under different badges to many different automakers in the past, and also supplies engines and transmissions to Malaysia's 2 carmaker, Perodua, which sells cars in the UK and Malaysia.
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Passenger car models
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Ceria built with Mira's chassis
Taruna built with Terios' chassis
Terios also sold as the Toyota Cami
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Plants
Sunter II (Indonesia) - Astra Daihatsu
Cumana, Estado Sucre (Venezuela) - Terios is the only Daihatsu model that is made there.
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