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Everyone I know has been begging for smaller cars for years. Idk why everyone thinks people don't want them. No one said they didn't want them it was just decided for us by some CEOs. That seems to be how all of the opinions of "Americans" are formed. Same way the CEO of my company says we all love to go into an empty office and do all of our work online. It's just bullshit

What, a cheap car that is perfect for commutes and milk-runs, gets stellar mileage, zero unnecessary frills, with no over-engineered electronic crap? I can't even get a new car w/o a crappy electronic center console if I throw money at the dealership. Who cares if it's like driving a mail truck: sign us up!

Many of us want these, but cannot obtain them new or even register them in our home state(s).

That said, ending the Chicken Tax might turn companies like Ford inside-out in the process. It's an economic Jenga tower of automotive suck over here.

Can USians stop being dependent on cars for transportation?

I have wanted a Kei truck since I first saw one. It's me sized and I love them.

I guarantee if vehicles were properly regulated here, and the Big 3 here had to suffer actual consequences for their piss-poor choices, smaller cars would be a more popular choice.

Waste of a story. Kei cars would be terrible for most American commuters. Small cars would be good, but not kei. Too small, too dangerous, too bad in the snow, too likely to break down, too slow for expressways.

I love my kei, and I would never suggest it for the average American. This is common sense, too. Anyone who researched the matter a little would say the same.

Give them European fuel prices, and they'll convert quickly.

Those tiny cars don't meet American safety standards. And Americans don't like bottom-of-the-barrel cars at any price.

I drive a manual Miata. I’d absolutely love an Autozam AZ-1 (Autozam is a Mazda brand). I also ride motorcycles. The Miata is actually harder to use than the motorcycles in American traffic due to its height. If you want to turn and a truck/SUV pulls up on your side you’re just stuck staring right at the middle of their door panel, zero visibility. On the motorcycles my head is at least high enough to see through their windows. Obviously this wouldn’t be an issue if the other driver didn’t pull forward to the absolute limit but that next to never happens.

For reference:

Never.

While not in Japan, I live in Taiwan and we have some Japanese imported Kei cars.

The majority of Taiwan driving is city. We don't have many highways.

In Japan and Taiwan, esp in the city, the average speed is like 35mph. Even on the highway, most cars are not driving faster than 55mph.

In some parts America, it's mostly highway driving. Those Kei cars are death traps.

I already love them

Why leave it to car brains to determine if they like it? The people driving F350 GMC Yukon zero visibility death machines will never. Too bad.

Regulate the size of cars and stop pedestrian/biker deaths.

Sounds good to me, I'd love a cheap small electric car

Most Americans aren't like me, but I love my Smart car. I got into it late, I thought the cars were really goofy and stupid when they hit the scene. It's now my favorite car of all that I've owned, including my previous Porsche Boxter S. The Smart car was $6k used, it costs a little over $20 to fill up with gas, the 6 gallon tank takes just under a minute. It's still a manual which I love and it's so easy to drive. There is no extended hood so you never worry about scraping things when turning. The turning radius is insane by the way; the wheels turn to almost 90 degrees. I only need 1.5 lanes to make a U-turn and the power steering and clutch is very light. It also goes plenty fast which I was concerned about, I don't feel scared driving on the highway in it at all. It really doesn't feel small when you're in it until you look behind and remember that the car just ends as far as your arm can reach. Smarts are made by Mercedes so they're good quality. It's a shame they were discontinued in the US, but I'm not surprised at all.

Powerful rich conservative men literally will be unable to deal with this, it is too threatening to the spiritual symbol of the The Big American Car which underpins the rest of their theology.. so no Americans will not be allowed to learn to love tiny cheap Kei cars whether because of literal forceful separation and denial or by rich conservatives stoking culture wars about it through their shitbag rightwing influencer mouthpieces... no there is very little chance this future will be allowed until it reaches a point somewhere indefinitely far down the road where the advantages become undeniable.

Honda fit owners were born ready!!

I generally like mine (Nissan Dayz Rooks HS ~2018). My two biggest complaints are lack of power for certain driving (like with 3 passengers and luggage uphill) but some have turbochargers, and secondly that the smaller footprint does make them feel much more flimsy in windy conditions. I've been blown around the expressway and felt like I was going to get blown over on a couple of occasions. Otherwise, I am quite happy. I still try to walk/train/cycle/motorcycle first, but sometimes that's not possible or practical.

How about huge overweight and expensive kei cars?

As soon as they figure out how to make them super loud and roll coal.