The last Copen is about to roll off the line, and Daihatsu wants you to watch it happen
Daihatsu will end Copen production in August 2026 and mark it with a factory farewell event, live on YouTube, before the car heads into a museum.
Daihatsu is saying goodbye to the Copen — and doing it loudly. Production of the current-generation lightweight roadster ends in August 2026, and on August 31 the company will hold a special event called OPEN FUTURE DAY right at the factory in Ikeda, where these cars have been built for years.
The format is almost museum-like, but with a beating heart. Attendees will watch footage tracing the production journey of the final car and witness the moment the last Copen rolls off the line. For those who can’t make it in person, there will be a YouTube livestream. But a seat in the room isn’t for everyone: applications are open from July 10 to 27, only Copen owners can take part, the cap is 50 people, and a lottery will decide if demand outstrips supply. The entry fee is ¥3,000, though it comes with a keepsake. Winners will be notified in early August.
The Copen matters not because of sales figures, but simply because it exists. It’s an open-top kei car — a compact roadster for a country where a “sports car” doesn’t have to mean a 500-horsepower coupe, but can be a small machine with a light roof and real character. The current lineup included the Robe, Cero and GR Sport, and it was the GR version that made the model known well beyond Daihatsu’s usual audience.
The market backdrop for cars like this is brutal. Safety regulations, emissions rules, small-batch production costs and shrinking demand for niche cars are steadily squeezing affordable roadsters out of existence. The Mazda MX-5 survives thanks to global scale, while the Suzuki Cappuccino remains more a rumor than a reality. The Copen was one of the rare cases where an open-top sports car existed in an ultra-compact form — and almost nobody builds those anymore.
The departure of the model is a reminder: small cars built purely for fun disappear faster than big crossovers can update their screens.
Starting September 1, the Humobility World museum at Daihatsu’s headquarters will open a Copen exhibition. For this generation, it’s no longer a pause in production — it’s a final move from the showroom into history.