Toyota, which currently owns 51.2 percent of Daihatsu's stock, is set to purchase the remaining shares of Daihatsu by August 2016, making the small vehicle brand a wholly-ownerd subsidiary of the world's largest car maker.

The buyout, which is said to be worth around $4.27 billion, will allow Toyota to adopt a unified strategy in the small car segment. As such, Daihatsu will take the lead in developing the model range for the small cars for both brands.

Expect lots of shared technologies and operations in many markets in the not too distant future for both brands. But Toyota will make sure both brand's identity will be kept distinct even though parts and platforms will be shared.