President Trump this week gave his stamp of approval for pint-sized Japanese “kei cars.”
Trump told reporters at the White House earlier this week that he’s authorized Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to approve production of these tiny cars, which he called “really cute,” Bloomberg reports. “These cars of the very near future are inexpensive, safe, fuel efficient and, quite simply, AMAZING!!! START BUILDING THEM NOW!” he wrote later on Truth Social.
“Kei” cars are tiny, comparatively cheap vehicles that have been popular in Japan for decades. The most popular Kei car, the Honda N-Box, starts at just over $10,000. Meanwhile, start-ups like Japan’s KG Motors are taking preorders for single-seat electric cars for just $7,000. These types of cars account for just over a third of new vehicle registrations in the country.
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Although vintage Japanese kei cars have been imported into the US by vintage car enthusiasts, they aren’t currently legal to drive on US roads due to safety regulations, Bloomberg notes. Secretary Duffy told CNBC earlier this week that he wants “to give our manufacturers the opportunity to build” mini autos, if “there’s a market for those vehicles.” He argued that they could be a “great solution” for cities, but would “probably not” work on US freeways.
According to Car & Driver, the most popular vehicles in the US for 2025 so far are all large pickup trucks and SUVs, with the Ford F-Series, Chevy Silverado, and Toyota RAV4 nabbing the top three spots. Most drivers would probably not want to take on any of those vehicles while behind the wheel of a tiny kei car on a crowded US interstate.
A spokesperson for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety told Road & Track that unless kei-style autos “are granted some sort of exemption, which I’m not sure is possible, there are likely a number of safety standards that would need to be changed to allow current models sold in other parts of the world to be sold here.”
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As Car & Driver notes, however, there are other roadblocks for tiny cars in the US. Trump wants new cars to be made in the US, which would require automakers to reconfigure their factories. A lot of the latest kei cars are also electric, which the Trump administration no longer favors.
Small cars are a more attractive proposition overseas. Volkswagen is working on a $21,000 small EV for urban drivers, though it’s only expected to be available in Europe. In June, Stellantis Chairman John Elkann also said Europe needs to develop smaller and cheaper vehicles in the style of Japan’s kei cars.
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