Stop What You're Doing And Look At Daihatsu's Cute Micro Minivan

The little people-mover has been around since 1995, and when it launched, it looked a little like a tiny Subaru Forester. Today, it has fully transformed into a street-savvy minivan. Let's take a closer look.

Moving Through The Details
This new Move marks the seventh generation of the model. In the 30 years it has been on sale, it has always had four conventional hinged doors. So, the switch to rear sliding doors is a massive change for the vehicle. The new doors probably didn't change the styling all that much, though. The Move has always been a very tall, boxy MPV, and certainly would've continued to be whether it had new doors or not. On the whole, we like the looks, too. The angular, swept-back headlights and smirk of a grille work nicely with the triangular rear pillars. It looks particularly sporty in the Dandysport and Noble Chic trims, which add additional body work to give the van a light custom look. The interior seems nice enough, too, though not particularly interesting looking.

Powering the Move is either a naturally aspirated or turbocharged 660-cc three-cylinder. In naturally aspirated form, it makes 51 horsepower and 44 pound-feet of torque. The turbocharged engine, which is only available on the RS trim, makes 63 horsepower (right at the limit for the class) and 74 pound-feet of torque. Both engines are connected to a CVT, and front- and all-wheel-drive are available.

Daihatsu Is Basically A Minivan Company Now
With the Move becoming a minivan, the majority of Daihatsu's passenger car line-up now consists of minivans. Five of its nine listed passenger models are of the sliding door variety: Move, Move Canbus, Tanto, Tanto FunCross, and Thor. All of those are kei cars, too. The one exception is the Thor, which has a comparatively enormous 1.0-liter engine. Then, in its commercial line, it has the nearly identical HiJet and Atrai kei vans, both of which are available with an open rear bed. It also has the Gran Max, which is a more conventional small van with a 1.5-liter engine, and it's also sold as the Toyota LiteAce and TownAce. Of all these vans, we think our favorites are the ultra-cute and faintly VW-inspired Move Canbus, and the rugged-looking Tanto FunCross.