Founded on 1st March 1907, Daihatsu Motor Company Ltd. Is the oldest Japanese car manufacturer in the world. It's small models and off road vehicles are their most famous productions, but as of 2013 the company completely pulled out of the European market, citing the yen being so strong that it was too difficult for them to make a sizeable profit from its exports.
After the worldwide economic crash in 2008, Daihatsu's sales in Europe dropped massively, from selling 58,000 units in 2007, to just 12,000 in the year 2011. Quite some drop for the Japanese company, and enough for them to say enough is enough, and cease its export business.
From 1907 to 1951, Daihatsu was known as Hatsudoki Seizo Co. Ltd, but was renamed and restructured following the restructuring of its parent company, Hatsudoki. It began exporting their automobiles into Europe in the 1960's, but had to wait until the 1980s to find success there, and in 1992, Toyota's North American distribution also started distributing Daihatsu models.
In 2011, the company invested 20 billion yen (£142 million) into building a new factory in Indonesia, set up to make low cost cars to compete with the Toyota Etios, which in December 2010 was launched to great success in India.