4

Nov

Tokyo Motor Show: Suzuki Palette vs. Daihatsu Tanto

Posted by admin  Published in Suzuki, Japan, Auto Shows, Economy

The 2007 Tokyo Motor Show ended last week, but today we’re cleaning out our closet of yet-to-be published posts from this biggest of biannual Japanese auto shows.
click above image to view just how much legroom this truly mini vans havePity poor Suzuki. Japan’s vast market for mini vehicles has been dominated by the company since the creation of kei cars in the ’50s, but ever since the turn of the millennium, Toyota subsidiary Daihatsu has been taking some serious chunks out of Suzuki’s market share. The final straw came at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show when Daihatsu premiered the Tanto — a kei with minivan-style sliding rear doors and simply astounding

amounts of leg room and interior space. Suzuki had to react, so at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show it unveiled the Palette (shown above), a car strikingly similar to the Tanto in profile, but with a smidge more legroom.

So balance has been restored to the kei car market then? Nope. Daihatsu has upped the ante by removing the B-pillar from the Tanto (shown at right), creating a mammoth hole through which struggling toddlers can be passed. The ball is back in your court Suzuki.

Gallery: Suzuki Palette

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Netvouz
  • DZone
  • ThisNext
  • MisterWong
  • Wists
  • Fark
  • Furl
  • Netscape
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon

Related Articles

No user responded in this post

Subscribe to this post comment rss or trackback url
Leave A Reply

 Username (*required)

 Email Address (*private)

 Website (*optional)

Please Note: Comment moderation maybe active so there is no need to resubmit your comments