Tiny kei trucks from Japan have a new fan: President Donald Trump.
Trump expressed admiration for the pint-sized autos during a briefing with reporters to announce his plan to gut fuel economy standards. “They’re very small. They’re really cute,” Trump said. “And I said, how would that do in this country? And everyone seems to think, good, but you’re not allowed to build them.”
Kei vehicles, which are built to satisfy Japan’s light vehicle regulations, are enjoying surging popularity in the automarket — including here in the US. Sales of kei trucks tripled in the last five years, with around 7,500 total imported just last year, according to data from Japan Used Motor Vehicle cited by CNN.
“They’re very small. They’re really cute.”
Comparing them to the Volkswagen Beetle, Trump said he was authorizing the US Department of Transportation “to immediately approve the production of those cars.”
“He gave me the directive to clear the regulations on this, which we have,” US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at the briefing. “And so if Toyota or any other company wants to make smaller, more affordable cars, fuel efficient, we have cleared the deck so they can make them in America and sell them in America.”
A spokesperson for USDOT did not immediately respond to questions about what specific authorization Trump gave Duffy.
Indeed, the regulation around the legality of kei vehicles in the US is spotty. Federal rules allow for the import of mini trucks so long as they are 25 years or older, while state laws surrounding their on-road legality and registration are less clear. The vehicles would also need to comply with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, which dictates everything from steering wheel placement to vehicle weight.
That said, many states have rules allowing low-speed vehicles like golf carts, so its conceivable that kei trucks could slip through under those provisions.
Whether they would sell, though, is another question. Kei vehicles, short for “keitora,” meaning “light truck,” have strict guidelines around engine, size, and power limits. And while they certainly have a following in the US, they are probably too small for the majority of American buyers.
Of course, the purpose of the briefing was to announce the rollback of strict fuel efficiency rules put in place by the Biden administration. Trump said the goal was to make cars more affordable, but most experts predict that any savings from lower-priced vehicles will be offset by higher fuel costs over time.
