Japan's Favorite: The Story of the Kei Car
In Japan there's a special class of small vehicle called kei-jidosha, which is Japanese for "light automobile."
Called "kei cars" in English, these small vehicles are perfect for driving in Japanese towns and cities, which often have narrow roads and little space for parking.
And they're cheap. A new kei car can be bought for under $10,000, which is about a fifth of the average price of a new car in the US.
Because kei cars are lighter, they're more fuel efficient too, and their owners also benefit from lower taxes and insurance costs.
The kei-jidosha class was created in 1949 by the Japanese government, which believed it would allow more people to buy cars and help the Japanese economy.
Restrictions on the size of these vehicles and their engines meant they could be made and sold cheaply.
At first they were only allowed to have very small engines, but in the 1950s larger engine sizes were allowed — and this paved the way for the Subaru 360. Nicknamed the "Ladybug," it was Japan's first popular car.
Today, kei cars are still popular, and make up 40% of the cars driven in Japan. The bestselling car in Japan is the Honda N-Box, a kei car. And the country's bestselling electric vehicle is a kei car too: the Nissan Sakura.
However, while there are some overseas fans of kei class vehicles who like to import them, Japanese carmakers don't usually try to sell these cars in other countries.
One of the biggest reasons for this is that kei cars usually don't meet local safety rules, which are often stricter overseas. And because of their size, some worry that, in a crash with a larger vehicle, passengers in a kei car will not be well protected.
However, Luca de Meo, CEO of Renault Group, recently called for Europe to adopt policies like those in Japan to create a European version of the kei car!
