Daihatsu

In the late ’80s and early ’90s, Daihatsu sold a little off-road vehicle in the US, but it has been gone from the States for many years. The Japanese automaker is showing off one of the interesting concept vehicles that will be on display at the 2022 Tokyo Auto Salon this coming January.

The Daihatsu Copen is a car that you’ll never see on the roads in the US, but it’s not an uncommon sight on the streets of Japan. Now, Toyota’s Gazoo Racing has taking their turn at upgrading the tiny convertible into something a bit more fun.

It’s been a while since you could buy a Daihatsu in the US, but in Japan, they are still very common. They also built some cars for Scion, like the boxy xB. The company is showing of a cute little van called the Canbus, targeted to women buyers.

While Daihatsu never really took off as a brand here in the U.S., the company is still popular in Japan and other parts of Asia, and continues to produce vehicles there. In addition, the Japanese company has actually been the maker of some Scion models for years, as they both function as divisions of Toyota.