01 — History
- Founded
- 1907
- Founded in 1907 as Hatsudoki Seizo Co., Ltd. (Japanese Wikipedia: established 1 March 1907); officially formed as Daihatsu on 1 March 1951 (English Wikipedia).
- Headquarters
- Ikeda, Osaka, Japan
A specialist in compact and kei vehicles, including the Copen roadster.
- 1907
Hatsudoki Seizo was founded to produce internal-combustion engines in Japan.
Source: ダイハツ工業 — ウィキペディア日本語版 - 1930
Production of the HA-type Daihatsu three-wheeler began, moving the company into vehicles.
Source: ダイハツ工業 — ウィキペディア日本語版 - 1951
The company was renamed Daihatsu.
Source: Daihatsu — Wikipedia (English) - 1967
Toyota became a major shareholder.
Source: Daihatsu — Wikipedia (English) - 2016
Daihatsu became a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota.
Source: Daihatsu — Wikipedia (English)
02 — Timeline
Timeline.
- 1907Hatsudoki Seizo was founded to produce internal-combustion engines in Japan.
- 1930Production of the HA-type Daihatsu three-wheeler began, moving the company into vehicles.
- 1951The company was renamed Daihatsu.
- 1967Toyota became a major shareholder.
- 2002Daihatsu Copen (first generation) L880K
- 2016Daihatsu became a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota.
03 — Machines in the archive
Iconiccars.
06 — Design & gallery
07 — Sources
- 01Daihatsu – WikipediaWikipedia · reference · accessed 2026-09-26
- 02ダイハツ工業 – Wikipedia (ja)Wikipedia · reference · accessed 2026-09-26
08 — Photo credits
Daihatsu Copen (first generation)
Black first-generation Daihatsu Copen (L880K) Active Top in a parking area in Japan.
By先従隗始