Daihatsu currently sells new vehicles in approximately 10 countries. The decision to discontinue sales of new vehicles in Europe is the result of increasing development costs to comply with regulations in Europe, such as those related to CO2 emissions, and the appreciation of the yen against the Euro, which have had a negative impact on business results and made selling vehicles manufactured in Japan by Daihatsu no longer viable. It was made from the perspective of streamlining operations and focusing on specific areas of business.

Notification to distributors and dealers in Europe regarding Daihatsu’s decision to cease sales of new vehicles there began on January 13, 2011.

Reference

• No. of Daihatsu distributors in Europe: 10
• No. of Daihatsu dealers in Europe: Approx.1,000 (including 400 exclusive dealers)
• Sales of Daihatsu vehicles in Europe

Unit: thousand units

*Daihatsu survey; figures in parentheses indicate sales of Daihatsu vehicles in Europe as a percentage of total overseas sales

Source: http://www.daihatsu.com/news/n2011/11011401/index.html

I am devastated to announce that Daihatsu is leaving Europe by the end of January 2013.

Ofcourse, this may be a necessary step to cut the losses and get rid of the burden that comes with the overseas sales but then again, it means no more Daihatsu’s for the entire world except for Japan and some parts of Asia-Oceania.

It feels like losing a very dear friend. All my cars have been Daihatsus so far and I am very sad that I will not be driving a new one for a very, very long time, if not ever.

Note that the supply of spare parts and after-sales service will continue.

This probably means that the end of life is near for the current overseas models (I speculate), including Sirion, Terios, Materia, Cuore and Copen.

I will post updates as they come.

PS: Toyota, I hate you for forcing Daihatsu to become a local company. There, I said it.

Source: Wall Street Journal Asia ]]> http://daihatsupassion.com/daihatsu-is-leaving-europe/feed/ 1 http://daihatsupassion.com/inden-materia-icecube/ http://daihatsupassion.com/inden-materia-icecube/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 09:56:05 +0000 Umut Gultekin http://daihatsupassion.com/?p=480 German car modifier Inden Design has unveiled their latest creation; Materia ICECUBE.

Although the car looks great, the engine still begs for modification.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Car chopping is digital enhancement and rendering of cars. Theophilus Chin is the master of chopping.

Following are his artworks covering various Daihatsu models.

Materia Turbo sprints to 100km/h in just 8.9 seconds thanks to its 110kW (148.5 bhp) of power and 190Nm of torque. Despite this much power, it only consumes 7 liters of gasoline per 100 kilometers. It has a top speed of 200km/h which is electronically limited.

Materia turbo features a 30mm ride height reduction courtesy of Eibach lowering springs.

Tinted glaseses and high performance brakes are included in the standard package. Momo steering wheel, 1000W amplifier powered CD-MP3 player with 6 speakers and limited-slip front differential are listed as optional extras.

The car is equipped with 205/40/17 tires and it could be bought with either one of the rims which can be seen at the photos.

Thanks to an IHI turbo (0.4 bar), an intercooler, a free-flow exhaust, a revised induction system and a performance chip, Daihatsu Materia Turbo promises long engine life along with performance and styling.

Here comes the biggest difference from its predecessor; YRV Turbo: This time, Daihatsu decided to make it manual drive.