Daihatsu

Daihatsu

Daihatsu Motor Company is one of the world’s leading producers of micro-cars and they are sold in more than 120 countries. It is one of the oldest Japanese automakers and the company produced the world’s first one liter diesel engine. In the postwar era they realized there was a need for three and four wheeled small delivery vehicles. In the 1950’s they marketed the Midget mini-vehicle.

Daihatsu is a Japanese manufacturer of cars and is well known for smaller models and off road vehicles. It was formed in 1951 and by the 1960’s they had started exporting cars to Europe. Since 1992 Toyota has been distributing Daihatsu vehicles in North America. They have supplied cars under different badges to various automakers in the past. They also supply engines and transmissions to Perodua, which is Malaysia’s largest car maker, which sells cars in the UK. Daihatsu has had a presence in Trinidad and Tobago since 1958.

Daihatsu wanted to get into the US market and hoped that their fuel efficient well built cars would become a mainstay in the states. They opened a new branch call Daihatsu America which was headquartered in California. They introduced pint size vehicles with prices as low as half the average new car. Their slogan was “Small cars to be proud of,” and featured air conditioning and compact disk players. It seemed Daihatsu was destined to fail in the US. It departed from the US market in 1992. The company remained an international competitor in the small vehicles and electric car market.

Daihatsu wanted to infiltrate the US auto market. They opened a new branch in California named Daihatsu America. They marketed their mini vehicles with the slogan “small cars to be proud of.” Even though the company was a huge hit in other countries, unfortunately they seemed to be doomed from the start in the United States. They even priced their pint size vehicles at lower prices; they departed from the US market in 1992. In other places in the world they are still an international competitor.