Daihatsu Charade

New Charade king of the eco warriors

Daihatsu's new Charade will return a CO2 figure of only 99g/km, making it the cleanest car in Britain, and putting it into the no-charge Band A company car tax bracket

Auto Express Car Reviews

Next Charade, badged Cuore in Japan, is bigger, sharper looking and more powerful than its predecessor

25th February 2007

The firm will officially announce the Eco band figure at next month's Geneva Motor Show, when the Charade gets it worldwide debut.


	Badged Cuore in Japan, the Charade will even be available with a fuel-saving, engine start-stop option in 2008

Badged Cuore in Japan, the Charade will even be available with a fuel-saving, engine start-stop option in 2008. The new city car reaches the UK in July, and it will compete with Citroen's C1, Peugeot's 107 and Toyota's Aygo.

Daihatsu plans to launch a five-door version first, while a three-door model will arrive before the end of 2007. Basic versions will be priced at around £7,000. Debuting an all-new platform, the Charade will be larger than its predecessor, with more space for rear passengers.

It gets an all-new body which evolves the current car's chunky look with bigger headlights, a fresh nose and sculpted wings. Inside, there's improved material quality and more equipment - including knee airbags and ESP as standard.

Under the bonnet is a development of the existing model's 58bhp 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine - the same unit used by the C1/107/Aygo trio - with power boosted to around 70bhp. And Daihatsu is attempting to clear showroom floors in anticipation of the new Charade.

The Terios 4x4 is being offered with £1,000 off across the range - it starts at £11,995 - while the Sirion supermini gets a £500 saving. Prices now start at £6,490 for the base model.