Daihatsu Motor Co. recently launched the Rocky e-Smart hybrid. The car, indirectly indicates that in the future Daihatsu will also focus on environmentally friendly vehicles.
Daihatsu announced that by 2030, the entire line-up will be based on electric cars. This decision is the first for one of the largest 660cc Kei Car manufacturers to draw up an electrification plan.
In the plan, after 2030 every new car from Daihatsu in Japan will carry Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) or Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) technology.
“We cannot avoid electrification and we must develop it,” said Soichiro Okudaira, President of Daihatsu.
This statement can be interpreted as Daihatsu’s efforts to accelerate the process of developing electric cars, especially for the Kei Car segment. The reason is that the micro car category controls around 40% of the market for all new cars in Japan.
Daihatsu will later launch a new electric-based Kei Car. Daihatsu did not reveal the official price. But the car is sold for around 1 million yen to 2 million yen.
“We will take advantage of the advantages of hybrid cars to develop electric cars and (later) will be launched,” concluded Soichiro.
