First look: Daihatsu previews next Terios

DAIHATSU may well be defunct Down Under, but two new concepts from Toyota’s micro-car brand could eventually become production realities here wearing Toyota or even Scion badges.

Revealed ahead of their Frankfurt motor show debut next week are a compact SUV concept called the D-Compact 4x4 and a hybrid sports car dubbed HVS.

The D-Compact 4X4 is "Daihatsu's proposal for a new compact SUV that's more powerful, more dynamic and more handsome".

Presumably this is compared to the current 63kW 1.3-litre Terios and not Toyota’s next-generation RAV4, which will also debut at Frankfurt.

Toyota’s new compact SUV (revealed in E-news last week) is not only more stylish than Daihatsu’s conventional looking five-door wagon, it’s also certain to offer more power than the D-Compact concept’s newly developed 1.5-litre engine which "delivers the powerful driving performance you'd expect of an SUV".

Meantime, Daihatsu has revealed an artist's impressions of the HVS ahead of its world premiere at Frankfurt. A lightweight convertible, it combines a 1.5-litre engine with an advanced, electrically operated 4WD hybrid system that’s claimed to offer 2.0-litre performance and 1.0-litre fuel consumption.

Said to realise the full potential of hybrid technology, HVS has a rear electric motor that transmits power via a drive-control mechanism to the left and right wheels separately "for increased stability during high-speed cornering".

Daihatsu says HVS "reconciles environmentally friendly performance with the joy of driving at an unprecedented high level".