It’s been exactly a month since Daihatsu announced it would end production of the Copen in the second half of 2026. However, Toyota’s budget-oriented brand left the door open for a potential successor, and sure enough, a next-generation model is officially in development. Even better, it’s moving to a new platform with a rear-wheel-drive setup while keeping all three pedals. For now, the K-Open exists only as a concept, but there are plenty of reasons to believe a production version will follow.
Toyota CEO and President Koji Sato revealed that Chairman Akio Toyoda will take on the role of “driving and breaking the Copen a lot” during development and testing. Daihatsu hasn’t confirmed whether the new model will continue to meet kei car regulations or grow into a larger vehicle. It’s worth mentioning that the K-Open isn’t the first RWD Copen. Remember the Vision concept from a couple of years ago?
Daihatsu hasn’t disclosed what’s under the hood, but the outgoing Copen uses a 0.66-liter three-cylinder turbo engine rated at 63 horsepower. Modest as that figure sounds, it’s enough given the car’s light 1,874-pound (850-kilogram) curb weight with a manual transmission. The earlier Vision concept featured a larger 1.3-liter engine, presumably with more power, but sadly paired with an automatic transmission.
Stylistically, the K-Open’s round headlights evoke the first-generation Copen sold between 2002 and 2012. There are no images showing the roof in place, so it’s safe to assume the concept also uses a retractable hardtop like its predecessors. Whether Daihatsu will revisit the short-lived coupe version remains unclear, though the focus appears to be on the convertible for now.
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Source: Daihatsu
The driver-focused interior leans heavily toward analog design, ditching the central display seen in the Vision concept. A traditional handbrake sits behind the five-speed manual lever, and while most controls are on the steering wheel, a few touch-sensitive buttons occupy the center console. Door handles have been replaced by fabric loops, and the seats feature generous side bolstering.
Toyota seems genuinely committed to building a rear-wheel-drive Copen. During the 2025 Japan Mobility Show, Koji Sato said he “truly can’t wait to see what kind of car this Copen will be like.” He also admitted that packaging the RWD layout within such a compact footprint presents a serious engineering challenge:
‘It might be hard to convey how amazing it is, but achieving rear-wheel drive in a front-engine car with such a compact body is truly incredible. You need to place the engine low, carefully package the transmission and propeller shaft, and design the pedal layout so that everything fits perfectly into this body. Well… I would love to take hours explaining why, but to make a long story short, it’s packed full of the wisdom and ingenuity of its developers.’
Toyota hasn’t said when Daihatsu will launch the third-generation Copen, but it’s unlikely to arrive before 2027 since the current model remains in production until next August.
