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
this post was submitted on 22 Dec 2025
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Not just CEOs. Tax and emissions law in the US discourages smaller vehicles and encourages personal vehicles large enough to qualify as "light trucks". https://publications.lawschool.cornell.edu/jlpp/2024/11/25/the-unchecked-rise-of-trucks-and-suvs-in-america/
I bring this up every time people talk about vehicle sizes and people always treat me like a conspiracy theorist.
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I think the thing is when they do make them, they’re a shitty American car and nobody wants that so the Detroit execs blame us and go back to making luxury tanks for the wine moms.
I think the REAL issue is that when they sell those little cars people do buy them, but they are people who would have bought a larger more expensive car if that little car wasn't available.
We have a little Honda fit. Great car. Also a pretty popular car that you see on the road all the damned time. Honda still sells the car globally, but they stopped selling it in the US. Not because it wasn't selling, but because it was selling to people that would have bought HRVs or Civics (which cost more) instead.
That not true, the Fit started off strong at 80,000/yr sales but by 2020 hit 30,000/yr. Everyone is driving pickups now.
Best selling cars of 2024:
Ford F-Series: 732,139
Chevrolet Silverado: 542,517
Toyota RAV4: 475,193
Tesla Model Y: 405,900
Honda CR-V: 402,791
Ram Pickup: 373,120
GMC Sierra: 340,946
Toyota Camry: 309,876
Nissan Rogue: 245,724
Honda Civic: 242,005
Toyota Corolla: 232,908
Jeep Grand Cherokee: 216,148
Chevrolet Equinox: 207,730
Hyundai Tucson: 206,126
Chevrolet Trax: 200,689
Ford Explorer: 194,094
Toyota Tacoma: 192,813
Subaru Crosstrek: 181,811
Subaru Forester: 175,521
Toyota Highlander: 169,543
Honda Accord: 162,723
Kia Sportage: 161,917
Subaru Outback: 161,814
Toyota Tundra: 159,528
Nissan Sentra: 152,659
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g60385784/bestselling-cars-2024/
Yeah. I want to blame car company executives and do when I’m cranky but ultimately much of this is a problem with drivers. People want big, pedestrian-slaughtering, gas-guzzling planet-killers and as long as we allow don’t take a more aggressive regulatory approach to SUVs and bloated pavement princess pickups it’s going to stay bad.
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nobody wants that so the Detroit execs blame us and go back to making luxury tanks for the wine moms.
Exactly why Stellantis is selling this in the USA in 2026:
this is basically a shitty golf cart. golf cart carries more people and cargo and has the same driving distance.
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There's a much higher markup on large luxury vehicles so no manufacturer wants to waste their time on smaller cheaper ones.
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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.
Regulations have partly caused the car size problem. Manufacturers have gas mileage targets/requirements, but they're scaled based on axle length. Essentially this means they can make small efficient cars, or big expensive cars.
Properly regulated, i.e. closing up all the loopholes.
Ford gave up all car production except for the Mustang, focusing on trucks and SUV's. Since the late 70's, the US auto industry has shown that it is unable to make small cars with low margins like other countries.
If the Big 3 suffered consequences, they would be the Bug 2 or the Big 1 by now.
Ford actually had the top selling cars with the Focus and Festiva, but the garbage transmissions basically drove that entire demographic to Honda and Toyota.
Since the late 70’s, the US auto industry has shown that it is unable to make small cars with low margins like other countries.
Oh they can they just don't want to. GM, Ford, and Dodge have occasionally released small low margin vehicles but they either get discontinued or bloated and made more expensive, typically starting about 5 years in.
It ain't just US Domestics either. How big is a 2025 Honda Accord vs a 1986 model?
If the Big 3 suffered consequences, they would be the Bug 2 or the Big 1 by now.
I've been arguing that same thing for over 20 years. Heck I was just doing it again over the weekend. There isn't enough space in the US auto market for 3 Domestic Manufacturers anymore. They should have let Chrysler / Dodge die back in the '80s, the entire auto industry would be more healthy if they had.
If the Big 3 suffered consequences, they would be the Bug 2 or the Big 1 by now.
Funny typo aside... I think that's what should have happened. Let natural consequences follow poor business choices.
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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.
Too small, too dangerous, too bad in the snow, too likely to break down, too slow for expressways.
As someone who lives in rural northern Japan and drives his kei car on the expressways and in the snow: what? I've also never broken down. I don't think kei cars are perfect, especially not mine, but this makes no sense to me as most people, including those living in Aomori which is the snowiest major city on earth, drive kei cars all year round. We do have winter tires here, unlike the all-seasons I used in the US.
Right? I always viewed them as local runabout trucks. This is for trades people doing urban/suburban stuff. Not commuting on freeways - though of course people would do that with them. Kei cars are no different than say one of the small Smart or Fiat cars. Not great choices for safety at speed on freeways, but doable for local use.
I already love them
I owned a Ford Festiva, made by Kia, in the 90s. But at that point, I had a fully developed penis and did not need a truck. The 4 doors were for the excess women this attacted.
Loved those back in the day but they were not safe and a lot of people died in them. There's no chance that car would pass today's crash tests.
I had a serious fetish for Ford EXPs and Escorts in the late 80s / early 90s. Me and my buddies did lots of hop-up work and engine rebuilds. Set aside the nostalgia though and they were absolute piles of crap.
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please, bring back cars whose engine is just capable of reaching the speed limit, a 70hp engine in a small car is more than enough for the average person. it'll cost a fraction of a normal American car, and be much cheaper to run and maintain.
and they are so adorable. seeing a kei car or a delica in the wild makes me happy.
be much cheaper to run and maintain.
no one mentions how heavy vehicles use more tires, brakes, transmissions and wear everything faster.
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Sounds good to me, I'd love a cheap small electric car
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.
Regulate the size of cars and stop pedestrian/biker deaths.
I think that's the point of the USA, though. You're not allowed to indulge in nature, only industry.
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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.
Americans will not be allowed to learn
That's the US in a nutshell
America is a learning disability masquerading as a country
It's not so much that but instead that most of us are both indoctrinated and emotionally manipulated so that we're mostly reduced to trauma based responses even to good things. A society of figurative caged beaten dogs. The outward appearance would be one of a learning disability though.
Happened in the 70s, and unless we can do something about it, it'll happen again most likely
I have wanted a Kei truck since I first saw one. It's me sized and I love them.
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.
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Can USians stop being dependent on cars for transportation?
Can we unfuck our infrastructure and bring all of our jobs/utilities/amenities closer?
Would if I could
Public transit stops running by the time I'm off work
So, they are forcing their US shit cars an European roads, but won't show competition in their on land?
Typically trump to play the victim and saviour here
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As soon as they figure out how to make them super loud and roll coal.
Don’t kei cars fail us crash tests?
they are city cars desigend for low speeds. some can get up to 80mph, but most top out at 60mph, which is the speed limit of highways in japan.
they would be fine for city life but awful on american highways with 70mph speed limits
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