Nissan and Mitsubishi have announced the names of a jointly-developed minicar that will go on sale in Japan beginning in June. The Nissan version will be called the Dayz, while the Mitsubishi model will be known as the eK.
Each will have two variants, these being the Nissan Dayz and the Dayz Highway Star, and the Mitsubishi eK Wagon and eK Custom. Naming-wise, Mitsubishi’s choice is derived from the Japanese term “ee kei,” meaning “good minicar,” while the Nissan name has the standard “s” changed to a “z” to indicate a new way of looking at delivering value to owners as they go about their normal days, so it goes.
The product planning and development of the new models was carried out by NMKV, a joint-venture formed by Nissan and Mitsubishi in 2011 to develop minicars for the Japanese market.
Following this first wave of minicar models, both companies are working on the planning and development of a second new minicar, a tall wagon design that’s slated for introduction sometime in early 2014.
