Tokyo Motor Show - Daihatsu

What will make it to the showrooms?
The all-wheel-drive Be-go compact 4X4 is next year’s new Terios in all but name.

Daihatsu showed a concept version of the car at Frankfurt in September; the model on view in Tokyo is the Japanese market production vehicle.

The European version is due in the UK in April. It will be powered by a 101bhp 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine which has been developed from the 1.3 unit Daihatsu shares with Toyota, its parent company.

Performance is said to be comparable with the 2.0-litre engines in some rival off-roaders.

There’s full-time four-wheel drive with a centre differential lock to help keep the car going even if the wheels on one side lose traction.

The new car is much bigger and smarter than the current Terios and has a roomier and more stylish cabin.

What’s the best bit?
The styling. The new car is as modern and classy-looking as the current one is drab and agricultural.

And the worst?
It will be quite a while before Daihatsu develops its own diesel for the car.

Any other developments?
Some of the concept cars on the stand aren’t as far removed from reality as they seem. The HVS petrol-electric hybrid roadster and Esse city car both appear production-ready.

The HVS could easily replace the Copen, powered by the new Terios’s 1.5-litre petrol engine fitted to the new Terios, while the Esse is a possible replacement for the two-year-old Charade. It would need a bigger engine than the 660cc unit in the cars on the stand, but appears to be based on the current Charade platform and suspension.

Any gossip?
Daihatsu, as Toyota’s small-car division, was until recently restricted to engines of no more than 1.3 litres, but now the company is free to use bigger power units that will make its future models more appealing to European buyers.