Daihatsu, Toyota Venture to Push Small-Car Sales in Asia

Toyota Motor Corp. and its fully owned Daihatsu Motors subsidiary say they will launch a joint venture in January to develop compact vehicles for emerging markets.

The unnamed internal company will operate in Indonesia, Thailand and several other Asian markets outside Japan and China. Daihatsu will take the lead in developing and producing vehicles for the effort, using its emerging “DNGA” platform to carry the new models.

Vehicles developed by the venture will be larger than the Japan-specific minivehicles Daihatsu is known for and will continue to develop under the Daihatsu brand. Minivehicles are powered by engines displacing less than 1 liter. Reports say the joint-venture compacts will be equipped with engines displacing between 1.0 and 1.3 liters.

Toyota will provide resources to the joint venture. The company says it also expects to gain insights into Daihatsu’s minicar manufacturing efficiencies and apply them to its larger Toyota-brand models.