Car Stringh

Daihatsu's stand at Tokyo was a bit like a very cool toy shop - filled with colourful microcars (and the odd doll).

The best news, though, is that they don't look that far removed from reality - the Be-Go compact SUV will likely make it to the UK next year as the new Terios.

We saw a concept version at Frankfurt in September, but the car you see in our pics (the orange one) is Japan's production version.

The car we'll get will use a Toyota-derived 101bhp 1.5-litre engine and will feature permanent four-wheel drive. It should be with us by April.

Joining the Be-Go was a bright red compact roadster concept called HVS. It's a hybrid petrol-electric that looks a bit like a minature Z4 - no bad thing at all.

There was also a city car concept called the Esse, which looked like a possible replacement for the Charade. Like the HVS, it looked virtually ready for production, so it could be a busy couple of years