Some car maker names do not ring a bell with the people of the United States and that is normal because there are so many and they do not always actively market their cars in the US as a matter of slow sales and export taxes that found their way into the world of today.

This is the case with Daihatsu and their models like the Hijet. Unlike the other car companies from Japan, the Daihatsu company is completely independent of anyone else other then in their sales range. The cars that they produce are made solely by their factories since the early 1960’s. This would stand until the early 1990’s when the company merged with super giant Toyota to create one of the largest foreign born car companies in the entire world. This has served both of these companies well as they work towards building the best there is in cars for the people in need of a better mpg rating.

The Hijet has been in existence since the early days of Daihatsu and was actually their first model to hit the market. The models include pick up trucks, cargo vans and mini cars, all of which are highly popular in Japan as they meet all of the requirements for the tax credits on small, fuel efficient vehicles in the country. For this reason the company decided to make the Hijet into a hybrid vehicle to perhaps gain some world wide appeal to the models. This has served them well and the company is now reaching a much wider market with the Hijet since it became the first pick up truck to be listed as a mild hybrid and receive the highest mile per gallon rating of any model in its class. The style and design of the hybrid version of the Hijet is very similar to the gas only version. They made very few changes in the manner of how the vehicle looks as opposed to how it performs when on the road.

The Hijet unit is very different then a lot of the hybrids that are currently on the road. The electric motor and the gas motor are built as one unit rather then two separate ones which is the norm for these kinds of vehicles. The electric motor resides behind the gas motor and attaches to the transmission, which is the concept that was created by Toyota for their line of hybrids, like the Prius.