The recently launched Daihatsu Materia looks to me a bit like a futuristic London cab — it’s box-shaped, has a sharp, angular design and sits higher off the ground than most passenger vehicles.
Initially, I wasn’t sure whether I liked the design, but I have to admit that, after a day with the Materia, the look began to grow on me for the simple reason that it’s a brave design and we should welcome anything that sets itself apart so boldly from other vehicles, even if the design isn’t quite our cup of tea.
The interior styling is neat and functional, though I didn’t like the central placement of the speedometer as it took me longer to ascertain my speed by first having to look down in front of me and then to the left. But, this is a minor discrepancy because if I owned one of these vehicles and drove it all the time, I would soon train myself to know exactly where the speedo was.
The Materia seems roomy enough for five slightly skinny adults and the tiny boot transforms into a larger loading area once the back seats are dropped.
One of the most attractive selling points of the Materia is the standard specification list, which boasts aircon, ABS with EBD, four airbags, a radio/CD player which is MP3 compatible, electric windows and a three-year/75 000km service plan.
The Materia pushes out 77kW of power and 123Nm of torque, which is enough to make it feel a little lively, but not enough to make it quick.
It’s a comfortable enough ride, but the sometimes notchy five-speed gearbox and the engine which sounds quite stressed at high revs prevents any overly enthusiastic driving. That said, it’s still a capable little car that is indeed fun to drive and it cruises quite effortlessly at 120kph.
Given that most vehicle manufacturers anticipate that the large-car market will shrink while the medium- to small-car market grows, it’s pretty obvious that we will see more cars such as the Materia on our roads.
And when one considers the claimed consumption, which is about 6,8 litres per 100km, the price (R139 995 for the manual and R148 995 for the automatic) and the service plan, the Materia suddenly becomes a serious contender in the small-car market.