1991 Daihatsu Mira on 2040-cars

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Japan could consolidate to three automakers by 2020

Sergio Marchionne might see his dream of big mergers in the auto industry become a reality, and an analyst thinks Japan is a likely place for consolidation to happen. Takaki Nakanishi from Jefferies Group LLC tells Bloomberg the country's car market could combine to just three or fewer major players by 2020, from seven today. "To have one or two carmakers in a country is not only natural, but also helpful to their competitiveness," Nakanishi told Bloomberg. "Japan has just too many and the resources have been too spread out. It's a natural trend to consolidate and reduce some of the wasted resources." Nakanishi's argument echoes Marchionne's reasons to push for a merger between FCA and General Motors. Automakers spend billions on research and development, but their competitors also invest money to create the same solutions. Consolidating could conceivably put that R&D money into new avenues. "In today's global marketplace, it is increasingly difficult for automakers to compete in lower volume segments like sports cars, hydrogen fuel cells, or electrified vehicles on their own," Ed Kim, vice president of Industry Analysis at AutoPacific, told Autoblog. Even without mergers, these are the areas where Japanese automakers already have partners for development. Kim cited examples like Toyota and Subaru's work on the BRZ and FR-S and its collaboration with BMW on a forthcoming sports car. Honda and GM have also reportedly deepened their cooperation on green car tech. After Toyota's recent buyout of previous partner Daihatsu, Nakanishi agrees with rumors that the automotive giant could next pursue Suzuki. He sees them like a courting couple. "For Suzuki, it's like they're just starting to exchange diaries and have yet to hold hands. When Toyota's starts to hold 5 percent of Suzuki's shares, this will be like finally touching fingertips," Nakanishi told Bloomberg. "I absolutely do believe that we are not finished seeing consolidation in Japan," Kim told Autoblog. Rising development costs to meet tougher emissions regulations make it hard for minor players in the market to remain competitive. "The smaller automakers like Suzuki, Mazda, and Mitsubishi are challenged to make it on their own in the global marketplace. Consolidation for them may be inevitable." Related Video:

Daihatsu's tiny concepts bring big weird to the 2020 Tokyo Auto Salon

Daihatsu will have nine concepts at its 2020 Tokyo Auto Salon stand, featuring influences from the club to the clifftop. The most important is the Taft, which takes the Daihatsu Waku Waku concept showed at this year's Tokyo Motor Show closer to next year's production-ready form. In 1974, Daihatsu released a small, Jeep-ish 4x4 called the Taft, the name an acronym for Tall & Almighty Four-wheel Touring vehicle. The rebirth of the name on a kei-car that Daihatsu bills as "the world's first light crossover," and that comes standard with front-wheel drive and a CVT, necessitates editing the acronym to Tall & Almighty Fun Tool. The rugged pretensions of the Waku Waku are dialed back on the new Taft, with panoramic roof replacing the storage area in the Waku Waku's upper deck, rear doors and windows replacing the orange interior panels and jerry can motif, a more traditional front fascia and less cladding. Three Tanto kei cars dress up in three vastly different guises with three different front fascias. Because no auto show display can go without an overlander, the Tanto Cross Field concept delivers "Active gear you can rely on for your family," said gear appearing to be a roof rack and a set of fog lights. All we know about that Tanto Custom Premium is that it "gives off an overwhelming presence with a fearless black face" that seems to have taken design notes from the Toyota Prius and Mirai, not totally surprising since Toyota owns Daihatsu. The Tanto Marvel Spider-Man concept looks the most like a stock Tanto, wallpapered in panels from a comic book. Three Hijet microvan concepts don personalities for three different career days. The Hatsune Miku Marche concept is a working coffee stand and pop-up store dolled up in collaboration with the turquoise-haired, pony-tailed, "Vocaloid software voicebank" known as Hatsune Miku. Designers of the Hijet Peaks worked with Peaks magazine on the "playable overlander" with indoor climbing wall holds decorating the sides. Since the Hijet is only about 72 inches tall, it won't take much to climb, but Daihatsu will have a more challenging bouldering course in the stand for kids from three to 12 years old. The Hijet Jumbo DJ could be considered a giant DJ booth, DJ Kakushika making an appearance at the show to play a set in the Hijet's bed.

Daihatsu's Move Canbus could very well be the world's cutest car

The Daihatsu Move Canbus is too adorable to ignore, even though don't frequently cover cars outside of the US market. Just look at its face. It's so cute that fascia just seems too cold a term to use. Those big round headlights and upturned grille make for a relentlessly cheerful look. It even has a little circular chrome badge for a nose! The bleakest Monday morning would be a little brighter if this was in your driveway to greet you. The cute appearance is enhanced by the cheerful retro colors and additional chrome trim. Even the Canbus's name is positive. Daihatsu's press release explains that it combines the verb "can" to describe the van's ability to do almost anything, with the noun "bus" to describe the shape of the car. This car literally has can-do attitude in the name. It's also the name for the internal communications hub for a car's computer, which is totally can-do. Now all the positivity in the world won't let this van accomplish everything. Compared with most vehicles from other markets, the Move Canbus a miniscule car. It falls into the "kei" class of Japanese cars which are incredibly small and have an engine displacement limit of 660cc. It makes good use of its limited space though. The rear seats can slide fore and aft to allow for more cargo space or rear legroom. It also has little drawers under the seats for extra storage, and they can slide out to hold bags. Plus, check out the retro interior with bench seats front and rear. Those seats can also be decked out with washable covers in four styles, including, for some reason, licensed Disney designs. We're not saying we think this van should come here, even though it totally should. As much as the Autoblog staff loves tiny Japanese cars, they're not safe in the land of F-450s and Ram Power Wagons. However, we want to acknowledge interesting car design, which this Daihatsu has, and we wouldn't mind seeing another company's take on the look. In fact, we believe a certain German automaker would be the perfect candidate for producing cute, retro van. Related Video: