Aficionados of kei cars and trucks laud the usefulness of these smaller-sized work vehicles, which are being imported from Japan in larger numbers.
Photo: Nate Fontes-Fried
Why Did the Government Declare War on My Adorable Tiny Truck?
Kei-class trucks and minivans from Japan are finding US buyers who want pickups that fit the urban environment. Some DMVs and safety regulators have other ideas.
When my 2007 Ford F-150 pickup truck finally succumbed to New England’s salted roads, I was faced with a dilemma. Searching for a replacement returned only trucks that were more ego than cargo, with big engines and four doors but tiny beds. Prices for a new model were five times what I’d paid back in 2013 for what was then a six-year-old truck.
Maybe I should get a kei truck, I mused idly, recalling a recent news item about the diminutive pickups and minivans built for the Japanese market. Japan’s keijidōsha (“light vehicle”) class of vehicles aren’t sold new in the US, but they make up about a third of car sales in Japan, and Americans can legally import older models. Cheap to buy and run, they’re rugged, practical, no-frills machines — exactly what the American-built pickup truck used to be.