Daihatsu's Baby Delica

[docsavage]

From the Tokyo Auto Show, a baby Deli with the cool looks, some neat features in a Kei van:

Follow the link, skip the intro (if you want)), andf choose the Mud Master-C

http://www.daihatsu.co.jp/motorshow2007/main_en.htm

I can only dream of seeing them on our shores.

James

[BCDelica]

That's a sweet rig James, over 14" ground clearance, portal axles, 29" tires, and 3 gull wing doors!!!!!

Pisses me off that'll never make it to Canada.


http://www.autoblog.it/galleria/daihatsu-mud-master-c/3

[glasseye]

Both the Mud Master-C and the Tanto look just great. Honda's Vamos Hobio is another good example of what the Japanese are up to. What's not to like about a sub $20K family van that gets probably 60 mpg?

Why we can purchase the outrageously expensive and not-very-practical "Smart", but we can't get these little gems is beyond me. C'mon, Daihatsu! Get 'em on the boat!

[psilosin]

The Mud Master-C and the OFC-1 look pretty gnarly. I sure hope the Canadian consumers start demanding en masse to have access to kei class cars, especially now that most people eyes are openingto the fact our industry is a joke with artificially high prices due to the CMVSS that 'protects' the automakers more than the consumer.

[DelicaMark]

Yah we sure wouldn't want to have these in Canada....we Canadians hardly ever ski, Mt. bike, surf etc. Just not the right market. I guess we can wait until 2007 + 15yrs = 2022. Seems right?

[glasseye]

It'll never happen here. There's a rule in the auto manufacturing biz:

Big vehicles, big profits.
Small vehicles, small profits.

That's why we have $50K gas guzzling pickup trucks, not tiny, fun, economical kei cars.

A salesman at Japanoid told me that he was amazed when he got here from Japan, how limited our choices were in North America compared to the rest of the world.

Let the cries ring out: WE WANT CHOICE!

[BCDelica]

Why would you even want one when there's a little ol' 2000 Ford Expedition for sale down the road, a steal at $19,000 - with full load, leather and the rare V-10 engine option!

Heck, the Sierra Club awarded the Excursion the "Exxon Valdez" award for good reason.

Freedom, bah humbug.

[docsavage]

At least you could use the Excursion as a garage for the Mud Master.

If it's any consolation, the Japanese may not even see this one.

I'm driving a gas guzzling pickup now, but it sure is hard to lay off the throttle and adjust my driving when I've put so many miles on the Deli. The power to pass whenever one wants is nice, but so is not having to pay for the fuel. If I ever get a place to live up here, I can finish the WVO conversion and drive my van more again.

James

[psilosin]

Everytime I hear Mud Master-C I immediately think of the late-80's TV show Married with Children when the son went by the name of Grand Masta B.

I think the best we could hope for is to be able to import one for offroad use only. Would be cooler than a Gator/Rhino if you were into those kinds of things.

[marsgal42]

Now that is cool. I'd kill for one, and everybody I've shown the pictures too feels the same. As always, the question remains: why can't we get them here? (Yeah, I know it's a concept. I hope they build it!) Even if the manufacturers don't want to build a support network here, why can't we import them ourselves?

More realistically, my next car is likely to be something small for zipping around the city. I could get a "conventional" Kei car, but I also note that the first Renault Twingos turn 15 in 2008. Cool comes in many forms.

...laura

[BCDelica]

Cool comes in many forms.

Tell my teenagers that! All of there guy friends love the Mudmaster-C also.

Kev

[mararmeisto]

I would have to agree with the one post that commented about big vehicles equals big profits. The North American vehicle manufacturers are not interested in saving the planet or the saving the consumer any money in operating costs: they are only looking to make the big bucks at sale time.
Look what happened to the poor Smart car about to be introduced into the American market: it wasn't fast enough so it got a bigger engine; it wasn't big enough so it got stretched (and now that I've re-read the smartusa.com website, I notice the four-passenger version is now cancelled); and at 40mpg it will probably not be allowed in significant numbers.
The other problem with the North American market is diesel - diesel engines are only for the 'big vehicles' it would seem. I was reading the other day that the probable reason for that is the emissions controls: gasoline controls were updated as far back at the 1970s, but diesel was only recently reviewed in two states in the last five years (California being one of them). Until this continent recognises the benefits of and accepts the qualities of diesel engines the percentages will remain: nearly 40% of passenger vehicles in Europe and less than 1% in North America.
Being in the Navy, I've seen MANY wonderful and different models overseas that are not available here in our own markets. The most frustrating are the models made by 'our' manufacturers - the Fords, the Chevys and the GMs that are only sold in oversea markets. And again, most of them tend to be smaller, more economical and INEXPENSIVE!

[Green1]

the Fords, the Chevys and the GMs that are only sold in oversea markets. And again, most of them tend to be smaller, more economical and INEXPENSIVE!

what's really frustrating is how those companies just don't get it! I was reading the other day about GM's largest quarterly LOSS ever (tens of BILLIONS of dollars), and they stated that the only place they actually made money was in the overseas markets... yet for some reason they don't want to try making that same money here by introducing those same vehicles!

[BCDelica]

NA automakers have dropped the ball IMO.

These is a must read for diesel fans, it's shows what really can be done!

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/120 ... ssiah.html

http://saeenergy.com/index.htm

Would just love to let this shop go over my Delica!

Cheers

[glasseye]

"NA automakers have dropped the ball"

No kidding. Remember the Chevy Citation? Vega? Pinto? Don't get us started on the Hummer.

Or have they fumbled on purpose? "Big vehicles, Big profits" is not my words, they're a byword of the industry.

That GM is turning overseas is fact. They've opened a huge factory in China to build engines for the $5-$6K Wuling Hong Tu. That's right, six grand for an airbag-equipped, 50 mpg van with AC. You might have to go to A&B sound for your USB Deck.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAIC-GM-Wuling_Automobile

Note that sales in '05 were over 300,000 units.