Monday, May 19, 2025

Places I'm Visiting: Japan 2025 – Little cars

Not too long ago, Mr. Trump, in one of his rants, brought up the issue of the car market in Japan. He complained, as past presidents have done, that Japanese consumers don't buy US-made cars. The reason is simple. American cars, generally speaking, are too big for Japanese roads. 

US automakers make no attempt to design cars that will sell in Japan. Japanese consumers mostly want small, relatively inexpensive, right-hand drive cars. Kei cars (typically under 11 feet in length and 4 feet in width, engine displacement 660cc or less, power output capped at 63 horsepower) account for around 40% of new cars sold in Japan. In rural areas, the percentage is surely higher. I'd say easily 60%–70% of the cars on the road in the rural areas I visited in April and May (in Shikoku and Kyushu) were kei cars. 

Until US automakers are willing to address the needs of local consumers, they will never sell cars in Japan in appreciable numbers. Here are a few photos of small, right-hand drive cars seen in Japan. Notice that they have yellow and black license plates, indicating  the vehicle is a kei car. I could have taken hundreds more photos like these. Tiny cars are everywhere in Japan – which is appropriate given the narrow roads.

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