Thats much better than the d-x concept they put forward last year. I just wish they would get on with it and build it! Rex.
lexus???? shown these pics a couple of weeks back but a good friend in the trade,if it was to make it to the uk it could wear the lexus badge??.....
The D-X looks like a Smart Roadster from the rear; the D-R is much better but looks even more like an Audi -- I hate people saying my Copen is a "mini-TT". The Copen has a big laughing face; D-X grill looks like an old Hyundai Tucson and D-R has a big crying face. Yucks! Long live Copen!
This looks a real beauty to me and a worthy successor to Copen, however they badge it. I suspect though that the same financial pressures that did for the Copen will keep this off the roads too. Shame!
Yes I thought that. I don't like the line down the sides much or the vents under the headlights. Today's cars seem to have such busy bumpers with bits hear and there like a collage. I prefer the smoother looked you get around late 90s early 00s
I think the concept car looks pretty good and if it came to the UK priced as the current Copen I would be interested in buying one. I do though like cars with clean lines but wouldn't be averse to a vulgar Christmas tree alike. My ideal car would be a MK1 frog eyed sprite. I used to have an interest in kit cars and was going to build a sprite lookalike, as a genuine sprite wasn't practical for me back then. I'm a massive fan of the Prisoner TV series and my other ideal car would be a lotus seven or a caterham seven. Green with a yellow nose cone and always fancied building a replica of one. I even bought the plans for a wooden tubbed version which would be skinned with aluminium sheet. Then the wife got herself pregnant. How thoughtless of her.
Well I hope you caught who got a Preg! lol I too like the seven. But yellow nose on green, hmm have to do a google image search to see if I like that combo.....you mean the tip yellow or the whole nose yellow?. I like this one.
I've not actually seen the series. i've seen clips of it now and then but cannot recall ever seeing a full episode. But yes I knew he had a seven. PS I'm still looking for another gardening job!
I hope you cut your feet off with a scythe. Portmeirion where the prisoner was filmed is worth a visit. I visited a few years back and there was a couple of replica sevens parked up around the place. I made a video of my visit then back home got out my DVD box set to compare. It hadn't changed that much in almost forty years. The only real problem with going to Portmeirion though is its in Wales, which has Welsh people.
That Copen looks good, but I bet the parts like headlights are not cheap to replace! They should just stick with parts they already have and just shape the body a little. Could easily be advertised in the UK as a cheap fun run about. Oh yeah, add a 1.3 and 1.5 model in the European market... heck put a small turbo diesel in it - You'd get loads of buyers in the UK who'd want the oil burner version. The 1993 Daihatsu Charade Turbo Diesel was a hit.
Dwyaner I cant see it happening to be honest- Before the Copen came to Australia, Daihatsu said that over a thousand people signed up for one, thru motor show interest etc. When they arrived, they didnt take to it at all. I bought mine when they first arrived. They was no waiting list to purchase them. I went to 3 daihatsu dealers and all were wanting to offload the ones they had. So a new more expensive Copen for Australia, now that Daihatsu dont even sell here anymore, i think wont happen. If it does, then it will be a purely Japanese market only, which would be a shame. The markets in Asia, where Daihatsu do so well like Malaysia and Indonesia (where ive been and seen a diahatsu on every corner) they are only interested in mini vans and small sedans.
Why is it that Daihatsu pulled out of the UK because of exchange rates yet other Japanese manufacturers including the parent company Toyota still sell here? Is it because they were a niche company with limited sales anyway?
dwayner I think they pulled out as they werent really big sellers In Australia, they just werent doing well at all. I believe Toyota to a certain extent killed it off too. They had only just opened a Dahatsu dealership near me, and it was closed after just a month or so. I cant see how a currency situation has anything to do with it, they are part of Toyota, and that hasnt seem to effect them.. Toyota are market leaders in Australia
Toyota might make, for example, 25% profit on 100,000 car. Daihatsu might make 25% on 10,000 car. Or Toyota might have more of a marque so can get 25% profit whereas Daihatsu can only get 15%. These are just purely made up numbers but to illustrate an idea why T can survive and D can't.
dwayner Also, there is a "Local content" law in Australia where a manufacturer receives Governmental Financial incentives. I dont know about the UK, but Toyota is one of the bigger car manufacturers in Australia might also mean that currency exchange rates dont exist with them. But im not entirely sure
Toyota and Nissan do have manufacturing plants in the UK, as do Honda. Maybe that gets them around tax and import laws which helps to negate the effects of a strong Yen. Also as Trustafox said a small profit on a car when you sell tens of thousands is profit worth having. A small profit per car on low sales probably isn't worth the trouble for Daihatsu.
Dwayner It would also be costly for Daihatsu to make cars for australia with the specific rules we have here also - to make the car comply with ADR requirements here. So for a small number of cars, it was probably very costly. Australia is too small a market. Obviously price along isnt a factor, as cars like Daewoo and Daihatsu were the cheapest on the market, and they pulled out, where as more expensive makes like Volkswagon, Audi and BMW seemd to thrive
