Toyota and Daihatsu say that they will soon establish an “internal company” that will be responsible for developing and building compact vehicles for emerging markets.
Daihatsu, which is now a fully owned subsidiary of the Japanese giant, will be responsible for “unified development, procurement and production preparation” for compact vehicles for emerging markets based on an as-yet unidentified Daihatsu platform. Toyota, meanwhile, says it will support these efforts by providing “knowledge and resources”.
Toyota and Daihatsu say they will work towards establishing the internal company in January 2017, with the objective being the development and eventual launch of “competitive” compact vehicles based on Daihatsu’s approach to manufacturing “affordable, high-quality products” for emerging markets.
The resulting vehicles will be built at existing production bases “to mutually effective use”.
Daihatsu is expected to take the lead in the internal company, which will bridge areas of both Daihatsu and Toyota.
“With the establishment of the internal company, Toyota intends to learn the very fundamentals of Daihatsu’s competitiveness and change the way we work,” said Toyota executive vice president, Shigeki Terashi.
Daihatsu president Masanori Mitsui added: “We will further advance our knowhow cultivated in the manufacturing of mini-vehicles and be a Toyota Group driving force, not only for mini-vehicles, but also for compact vehicles for emerging markets”.
The Daihatsu brand, of course, pulled out of South Africa in 2015.
