The company produces entry-level compact cars in Japan and Southeast Asia, which are supplied to global emerging markets under the Toyota brand.

[4] The name "Daihatsu" is a combination of the first symbol (kanji) of Ōsaka (大) and the first of the word "engine manufacture" (発動機製造, hatsudōki seizō).

From the beginning of the company until 1930, when a prototype three-wheeler truck was considered and proposed, Hatsudoki's focus was largely steam engines for Japanese National Railways and included rail carriages for passenger transportation.

Daihatsu was an independent automaker until Toyota Motor Corporation became a major shareholder in 1967 as the Japanese government intended to open up the domestic market.

[7] In 1998, Toyota increased its holding in the company to 51.2% by purchasing shares from its major shareholders including financial institutions.

[12] The construction had been initialized on 70,000 square meters on May 27, 2011 and started operations at the end of 2012, producing up to 100,000 cars per year.

[17] From 2020 to 2022, Daihatsu trained employees from less-profitable sister company Toyota Motor East Japan to improve the latter's systems on development and production of small cars.

[18] In April 2023, Daihatsu was found to have rigged safety tests for 88,000 cars, most of which were sold as Toyota Yaris to Thailand, Mexico and Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

The door trim of side-collision test cars was notched in order to minimize the risk of injury, but the modification was not applied to production vehicles.

[19] In December 2023, the company halted shipments of 64 models, including kei, Mazda, Subaru, and two dozens branded as Toyota, after safety investigations uncovered misconduct far greater in scope than previously expected.

In some models, the airbag control unit used in testing was different from the part installed on vehicles sold to the public.

Affected markets included Japan as well as Bolivia, Cambodia, Chile, Ecuador, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Thailand, Uruguay, and Vietnam.

After the launch of Perodua, Daihatsu's Malaysian operations were scaled down to concentrate exclusively on the commercial vehicles market, selling its Delta and Gran Max commercial truck chassis; Daihatsu had formerly sold Charades and Miras in the country since it first began operations in Malaysia as a joint venture in 1980.

[31] Toyota New Zealand announced on April 8, 2013 that sales of new Daihatsu vehicles in the country would cease by the end of the year, citing a lack of products that would comply with future NZ regulatory standards.

In the United States, Daihatsus were marketed from 1988 until 1992 but were hampered by the 1990s recession, and that their products had very little impact as the company's compact and fuel economic cars did not align with the perceived needs of American customers.

The company had little or no presence in countries with protectionist barriers, such as France and Spain—where local manufacturers also targeted the same market segment as Daihatsu.

[36] In Italy, Daihatsu partnered with local small car experts Innocenti in 1982 as a backdoor to several continental markets.

[39] From 1983 until 1985, Alfa Romeo's South African branch assembled the Charade for local sales and for export to Italy.

[44] In November 1974, Daihatsu released the Hallo (ES38V), a tilting trike powered by an electric motor and two 12V batteries.

[45] In December 2011, Daihatsu released the Pico EV Concept, a quadricycle powered by an electric motor.

Daihatsu had a secondary logo, based on a stylized drawing of Osaka Castle, as installed on its three-wheeler trucks during the 1950s to 1960s.

Created by illustrator Chiharu Sakazaki [ja] (who also designed the mascot for the Suica smart card system),[49] he wears a white shirt as well as black pants, and is drawn in a lineless artstyle.

[50] Originally used to advertise the Daihatsu Move Conte (including his own special edition of the vehicle[52]), he's been used on and off in marketing materials since 2008.

[53] Kakukaku also has a cult following in the furry community, affectionately called the Kakukult, who has drawn fanart of the character.

There is also a lesser known mascot named Tufton, a blue bird character designed to advertise the Daihatsu Taft line.

The company maintains an office in Tokyo, that was originally opened as Hatsudoki Seizo Co. Ltd. in June 1933 the Daihatsu Building.