Numbers first, because with the Daihatsu Sonica they are the story: Petrol engine, 47 kW. Daihatsu built from 2006 to 2009, in the decade of stability control, dual-clutch gearboxes and the first serious hybrids. Morinobu Okano and Takahiko Koyama drew it.
Where it came from
The Daihatsu Sonica (Japanese: ダイハツ・ソニカ, Hepburn: Daihatsu Sonika) is a kei car produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Daihatsu that was sold between 2006 and 2009. The production of the vehicle began in 2006, after having revealed it as a concept car named "SK Tourer" earlier in the same year. It was available in three grade levels: R, RS and RS Limited. The Sonica was discontinued in April 2009. The name "Sonica" is derived from the word "sonic".
Under the skin
Power comes from Petrol engine; 47 kW is the published figure; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 820 –. Work it out per tonne and you get about 57 horsepower — unhurried — enough for the job, not for the bragging. It shifts through a CVT. The wheelbase is 2440 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: it took over from the Daihatsu Max; its successor was the Daihatsu Cast Sport; assembly was at Nakatsu, Ōita (Daihatsu Motor Kyushu), Japan. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Proton Savvy, the Tata Motors Ltd Tata Magic, the Dacia Logan — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Daihatsu catalogue sit the Daihatsu Applause and the Daihatsu Atrai.