Toyota has confirmed that it will be purchasing the Japanese kei-car specialists Daihatsu and shall finalise the deal this August. For interest’s sake, many might remember that Daihatsu had withdrawn from the South African market last year. Could this purchase see them make a return in the future?
Rumours of this purchase had been circulating through the media over the past few days but now Toyota has confirmed that it will purchase a 51,2% stake in the Daihatsu shares which makes it a wholly-owned subsidiary. The amount that Toyota paid has not been disclosed but rumours suggest that it is around the $3,2 billion region.
The point of this purchase was for Toyota to appoint its microcars (eg. Aygo & Yaris) to a separate division for more of a focus driven development and production. This division of labour will see Toyota handling all safety, environment, comfort, and user experience developments while Daihatsu will manage characteristics such as cost- and fuel-efficient technologies. Production plants will also be shared.
Toyota President Akio Toyoda and Daihatsu President Masanori Mitsui both agreed that this deal would see a combination of strengths possessed by the two brands and will be more beneficial for consumers to come. This does make projects such as Toyota’s S-FR quite interesting and more likely considering Daihatsu’s nine-year history with the Copen. With that being said it also brings some hope towards the Copen’s return to South Africa.