Road Test
Daihatsu Materia
Test date 23 January 2008
Price as tested £10,495
For Spacious interior, generous specification, quicker than many of its rivals
AgainstAwkward styling, poor noise suppression, thirsty, not cheap enough
Daihatsu wants a new customer. A customer just as price sensitive as before, but younger, more active and more style-aware – and the product Daihatsu is trying to tempt them with is this, the Materia. It’s a mini-MPV but is styled to look more like an armoured car (or possibly a Royal Mail van).
Mind you, this is not actually a new model. In Japan the Materia is sold as the comically named Daihatsu Coo and as the Toyota bB (with an expanded engine range and the option of four-wheel drive), while in the US it’s the similar, if not identical, Scion xB.
The current model was first shown as a concept at the 2005 Tokyo motor show as a Toyota, and although this is the first Daihatsu version, a previous generation was sold as a Toyota from 2000, and as a Scion from 2004.
So is it a brave new world for Daihatsu? Not quite. In an attempt to protect established sales, should the new customer not come running, Daihatsu is pointing out that the Materia’s boxy styling and high roofline will give excellent access and ease of use for the more mature driver.
Only time will tell whether the Materia will appeal to the younger or older generation, or possibly both. Either way, it enters a market thick with competent mini-MPVs (Vauxhall Meriva, Nissan Note, Skoda Roomster), and the £10,995 Daihatsu is charging for the single-engine, single-spec Materia puts it up against some proven conventional hatchbacks. So if the Materia is going to convince either generation it will need far more than controversial styling.
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