Daihatsu Motor Co., Japan's biggest minicar maker, unveiled on Monday its new Move Conte as rising gasoline prices boost demand for fuel-efficient cars.
Daihatsu, 51 percent owned by Toyota Motor Corp., aims to sell 4,000 Move Conte models a month in Japan, the Osaka-based automaker said. The car is priced between ¥1.04 million and ¥1.67 million.
The automaker is competing with minicar rival Suzuki Motor Corp. to tap Japan's rising demand for fuel-efficient vehicles as average gasoline prices have climbed 24 percent this year through July.
Daihatsu's Tanto minicar, which gets as much as 20.5 km per liter, was the third-best selling vehicle in Japan last month.
"Right now, it seems consumers want only minicars or bicycles," said Yasuaki Iwamoto, an auto analyst at Okasan Securities Co. "Higher gasoline prices are definitely boosting Daihatsu's sales." He rates the company "strong buy."
Daihatsu's minicar sales have risen 1.4 percent through July. That compares with a 3.3 decline in industrywide minicar sales in Japan.
Suzuki had a 0.7 percent decline in minicar sales in the same period. Daihatsu overtook Suzuki as Japan's biggest minicar maker in fiscal 2006 for the first time in 34 years.
Among Japan's 10 best-selling vehicles in July, four were minicars, including Daihatsu's Tanto, Move and Mira. Suzuki's WagonR was the top seller. The Move Conte is Daihatsu's second derivative of the Move minicar, which it first introduced in 1995.
The average price for regular gasoline rose to a record ¥185.1 a liter in the week of Aug. 4, according to the Tokyo-based Oil Information Center. Gasoline prices averaged ¥182 a liter last month.