Toyota Buys 100% Of Daihatsu

Up until now, Toyota owned 51% of Daihatsu; in a recent announcement, the Japanese manufacturer just announced that they will buy out the rest of the company, becoming sole owner of the brand.

If you don’t know Daihatsu, it is the oldest Japanese automaker, founded in 1907. Furthermore, Daihatsu never built anything else; no microwave ovens, no radios and no motorcycles. The only things that came out of their factories were cars and engines.

Today, Daihatsu specializes in small cars, and this is what makes it interesting for Toyota: by using the knowledge of this automaker to optimize its lineup, the giant will be able to offer a set of very competitive vehicles.

This announcement is interesting for two reasons. First of all, it’s possible that thanks to this union, Toyota could roll out new technologies. Also, Daihatsu currently offers a lot of interesting vehicles in Asia, like the Copen roadster and the Move truck… both of these would make really cool Scions... or Toyotas.