2022 Daihatsu Hijet 4x4 Dump Bed on 2040-cars

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Daihatsu's four Tokyo Motor Show concepts bring the Waku Waku

When Suzuki showed off two of its concept reveals for the Tokyo Motor Show, one was a kei car called the Waku Spo. As far as we can tell with Internet translators, that renders the words "box" and "ish," which we'll resolve into the entirely apt descriptive "boxy." Turns out when you double up on the waku, however, you get excitement, which could be how Daihatsu came to name one of its four Tokyo concepts the Waku Waku. The cerulean blue box with the searing orange highlights looks like the result of a kei car mixed with an overlander. Black cladding hunkers over tiny wheels shod in aggressive rubber. The rear windows are replaced by full-length interior panels with a jerry can motif above and attachment points below. The back half of the roof opens onto an additional storage area, and the bumper triples as a step and a platform. What's not to like? Sticking with the two-up names throughout, next comes the Ico Ico, an autonomous shuttle with its own robot assistant named Nippote. At just 58 inches wide, the four seater's designed to navigate especially cramped urban centers. Slide doors, a retractable ramp, and modular seating that can be moved around the cabin make easier access for the disabled. The Tsumu Tsumu is a kei-class goods carrier with a removable cargo box. The renderings show an industrial-strength drone that sits behind glass panels when not in use, and launches from the roof when operational. The artwork shows the foodservice box, the Tsumu Tsumu turned into a tiny food truck. The Wai Wai minivan makes room for two more passengers than the Ico Ico, swallowing six people in three rows of two. Front doors open to nearly 90 degrees, and rear sliding doors run to the back of the second row for better ingress and egress. Twin fabric sunroofs keep prevent a gloomy interior, and all of the seats fold down for when cargo instead of people needs hauling. We don't know what powers the concepts and what other neato tricks they might hide, but we looking forward to finding out when the Tokyo Motor Show opens later this month. Featured Gallery Daihatsu 2019 Tokyo Motor Show Concepts View 26 Photos Tokyo Motor Show Daihatsu Truck Crossover Minivan/Van Commercial Vehicles Concept Cars Off-Road Vehicles

Toyota's Daihatsu unit halts all vehicle shipments over widespread safety cheating

TOKYO — Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday its subsidiary Daihatsu will suspend shipments of all its vehicles in and outside Japan in a damaging safety scandal after an investigation found improper testing involving 64 models. The safety test irregularities earlier this year prompted an independent panel investigation, which found widespread and systematic problems. Toyota, citing results of the panel, said its probe found 174 new cases of irregularities in safety test and other procedures in 25 test categories, in addition to the problems reported earlier. “We are sorry to have betrayed the trust of our customers,” Daihatsu President Soichiro Okudaira told a news conference Wednesday. He acknowledged the cheating on safety testing and procedures is tantamount to neglect of safety certificates. “We take it very seriously as the problem that has shaken the foundation of an automaker,” he said. A lawyer and a member of the probe team, Makoto Kaiami, who also attended the news conference, said workers under pressure to meet management demands for tight development deadline resorted to cheating, and that the management should take the blame. The issue first emerged in April when Daihatsu reported improper testing on the door lining. Problems in the side collision testing also surfaced in May, officials said. The problems were found in 64 models and three engines of vehicles, including 22 models and an engine sold by Toyota, the company said in a statement. The investigation also found that the problems involved some models for Mazda Motor Corp. and Subaru Corp. sold at home, as well Toyota and Daihatsu models sold abroad. Daihatsu is Toyota's unit specializing in small cars and trucks that are popular in Japan. Toyota expressed “sincere apologies.” "We believe in order to prevent recurrence, in addition to a review of certification operations, a fundamental reform is needed to revitalize Daihatsu as a company,” Toyota said. Toyota said it will take a significant effort, including a review of management and business operations as well as the organization and its structure, as well as mindset of employees and that the company will provide full support to revitalize Daihatsu. Daihatsu Safety crash test

Daihatsu bringing retro Copen roadster, van-boat to Tokyo Auto Salon

Though its products are almost universally small (aside from its rebadged Toyota offerings), Daihatsu seems as though it'll have a fairly large presence at the 2023 Tokyo Auto Salon. It's highlighting eight main models with a few of them sporting some pretty extensive and cool modifications. The more interesting models are likely just concepts, but occasionally some of these customs result in production variants, such as a wild retro Honda S660 concept from a couple years ago. Copen Clubsport Daihatsu's sportiest offering of late is the Copen roadster. And it's celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The kei-class roadster (shown at top) with its turbocharged 660cc engine has received drastic styling changes that put it more inline with the original. Those changes include round, retro headlights front and rear, and a much cuter round front grille. The cuter appearance is bolstered by racier appointments such as a roll bar, side skirts, rear diffuser and red-tipped exhaust outlets. As with the current Copen and the original, it still appears to have a retractable hardtop. Performance details haven't been announced, but we wouldn't be surprised if some suspension changes have been made at the least, if not any power improvements. This is also the car that had us thinking of the aforementioned Honda S660 retro model that reached production. We'd love to see it happen, as I'm sure would enthusiasts in Japan. Daihatsu Hijet Jumbo Extend View 4 Photos Hijet Jumbo Extend Designed as a hypothetical support truck for parts and more is the Hijet Jumbo Extend. It's based on the Hijet Jumbo, the extended-cab version of the Hijet kei truck. It's been fitted with a custom van box that can be extended for housing more stuff and maybe even people. The render also indicates that it will have an easily accessible fire extinguisher in a custom mount on the outside. Matching paint and a set of Volk TE37 wheels help it have the same racing-inspired look as the Copen Clubsport. Daihatsu Atrai Wildranger View 2 Photos Atrai Wildranger The third of the highly customized Daihatsu Atrai Wildranger. The company added chunky all-terrain tires and bedliner along the bottom half of its Atrai kei van. It also has suitably outdoorsy green paint. But the big attraction is what's on the roof. While looking like the van's roof, what's actually up there is a pop-off boat. That's why there are oars on either side. So this will get you both to the river, and down it.