I dont think it matters if their indepebdent if there selling what are often expensive toyota models at more realistic prices.

Nothing wrong with simply re-badging the best company out there, and certainly nothing wrong with selling identical cars at a more value based pricing structure.

I was aware of that fact, I simply meant that there are precious few independents out there and even fewer who have the financial stability to innovate.

Which is the nub of the problem - it is the strength of the Japanese Yen which has made Japanese built cars expensive. This combined with low sales makes it uneconomic. Honda have the same issue with the Accord and Toyota with the Previa and Urban Cruiser.

Daihatsu have also withdrawn from Australia and, this year, from New Zealand, for similar reasons.

Can't see them returning to Europe unless it is possibly as a Toyota budget brand to compete with Dacia and Datsun, and then only if thd cars are assembled outside Japan (somewhere like their new plant in Indonesia) and if they share Toyota's distribution network.

Jamie,

daihatsu where/are fabulous.