Cars

Daihatsu Copen Active Top

The “Copen” was exhibited as Daihatsu’s first full fledged lightweight convertible sports car at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1999, and after receiving a great deal of support went into production as the “Copen” in June 2002.

A major feature of the Copen is that it is jam-packed with features exceeding the framework of a Japanese kei car. Constructed on a special production line that employs only the best engineers called the “Expert Center”, and even given a 5 layer coating of paint, the Copen offers the allure of the product quality appropriate for a premium car, in spite of its small body size.

In addition, the addition of the electric convertible top called the “active top” and the option to select an automatic transmission have further broadened user-level appeal. The result was a sales record that greatly exceeded initial expectations, with an accumulated total of 40000 vehicles sold as of 2007.

Foreign exports began in 2003. Although initially the export model had virtually the same specifications as the domestic model, a 1300 cc model was produced for the European and other markets starting in 2005.