the Japanese newspaper Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, claiming that due to the investment by Toyota in Fuji Heavy Industries, the parent company of Subaru, all production of kei class vehicles made by Subaru would end and be replaced by Toyota-owned Daihatsu models rebadged as Subarus. This would allow Subaru to focus on their core business of four-wheel-drive family cars with horizontally opposed engines; kei car sales are almost entirely limited to the domestic Japanese market and were not cost effective for such a small manufacturer. In September 2009, the passenger version of the Sambar introduced as the Subaru Dias Wagon, a rebadged version of the Daihatsu Atrai van. The seventh generation of the Sambar truck was later introduced to Japan on April 2, 2012 as a badge engineered Daihatsu Hijet Van/Truck, but the passenger variant (Dias Wagon) had already been produced since 2009. This is the first time the Sambar is a semi-cabover vehicle, the engine was installed in the front of the vehicle, between the front passengers, and driven by the rear wheels, and continuing to offer on demand four-wheel-drive. In 2014, the Sambar truck was discontinued and updated to S500 Hijet generation, while the Sambar van/Dias Wagon stayed on the S321 platform. Eighth generation (2014-present) The eighth-generation Sambar Truck was introduced in Japan on September 2, 2014 as a rebadged tenth-generation Daihatsu Hijet Truck. The eighth-generation Sambar Van was introduced in Japan in January 2022 as a rebadged eleventh-generation Daihatsu Hijet Cargo, which is built on the DNGA platform. The Dias Wagon passenger van was renamed to Sambar Dias. Gallery References External links Samber Truck｜SUBARU(Japanese) Samber Van｜SUBARU(Japanese) All Subaru Sambar models since 1961 (German language) Subaru Sambar Discussion Forum SUBARU-SAMBAR (Subaru Official Site in Japanese) Subaru Sambar Van Specifications from Kei Cars Canada Subaru Sambar Mini Truck Features subaru Mini trucks Maintenance and custom from japan Sambar Microvans Pickup trucks Cab over vehicles Kei trucks Vehicles with CVT transmission All-wheel-drive vehicles Rear-engined vehicles Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Vehicles introduced in 1961