Japan’s 660cc minicar segment, which last year accounted for about 35% of total vehicles sales and could grow to take 50%, has a new nameplate: Toyota.
The world’s largest carmaker was the only Japanese manufacturer without a minicar; its interests in the segment have been represented by subsidiary Daihatsu which, with Suzuki, controls about two-thirds of the minicar market.
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Toyota’s independent dealers send about 30,000 minicar customers a year to Daihatsu; minicars are especially popular in rural areas where they are bought as second or even third cars.
Improving features and lower taxes and the forecast that this segment will continue to grow, prompted Toyota’s decision last year to enter the segment with vehicles supplied by Daihatsu.
Toyota’s new Pixis Space, a rebadged version of Daihatsu’s Move Conte, starts at JPY1.12m (US$14,700) with a claimed economy of 25.5 km/litre (72mpg). Both Honda and Nissan also plan to strengthen their minicar line-ups; Honda CEO Takanobu Ito said recently that minicars could grow to half of Japan’s market in the near future.
