I was shocked to find this article dated 4/8/10. It says "Killed in Europe, the Copen will now be only available in Japan." http://www.nihoncar.com/en/news-1312-Daihtasu+slightly+upgrade+its+Copen+in+Japan.html I have rung Daihatsu UK and the lady at the call centre could not confirm or deny this. She did said that spare parts are still being imported. What's the truth? As this article is published on a Japanese web site, I get the feeling it could be right! Also when the lady answered my call she said 'Subaru help desk'! We will have to wait and see... Rex.
I reckon that's reasonably reliable personally. I do know that IM Group (who are the Daihatsu distributors in the UK) are looking at bringing the Chinese made Great Wall Motors brand to this country. Purely speculation on my part now, but I'm guessing this is not going to be in addition to Daihatsu, but rather to replace them in their brand portfolio as their 'budget' offering. If you look at what happened in Australia, around the time Daihatsu exited the market, Great Wall Motors entered...looks pretty ominious to me!
Oh and whilst I remember, on the Autocar web site today, there is a story about a new RWD mini hot hatch that is going to be made in the Copen factory in Osaka, suggesting the factory now has some permanent slack in it... http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/251739/
Hi there, I can confirm that for Germany (and heard it from other continetal european countries as well). Daihatsu will only sell the remaining Copens in stock plus a last edition of 60 cars (which will include very minor extras). No other new Copens will come to Germany. One reason seems to be the Euro 5 norm from 2011 on, which the 1.3l engine does not meet. Another reason are sales figures, in Germany only 56 Copens were sold in the first half of 2010. Same applies for the Materia, so from middle of 2011 on Daihatsu will only have a model-range of 3 cars on sale. Andreas
Have you noticed on the *Nihon Car* website - It says "Our little 659cc (Kei-Car) convertible, still popular among seniors" - What a cheek (but looking at our front page age poll - it could be true...) Rex.
