While I can buy and drive any new car, I prefer my 14 year old Prius v.

I saw where the president said he's making it possible to build what are basically Kei cars in the USA, and he referenced the original VW Beetle that was a small, efficient and cost effective way to drive.

I do wonder though if such vehicles would have a market here. Namely, they wouldn't have the safety that we've been accustomed to here in the USA with our up-to-85-mph highways and everyone in the USA speeds except the little old lady from Pasadena. Well, actually she speeds too.

On the other hand, motorcycles are legal, and in most states you don't even need to use a helmet. Does it make sense to have motorcycles but not Kei cars?

I'm wondering to myself if I'd buy a brand new Kei car... Wait a second... Give me a Suzuki Jimny for $25,000 and I'll take it!!!

 

At the risk of relegating this to the other "House of", he may have forgotten all about that, in a day or two (or an hour or two?). Like his BBC lawsuit.

 

who, the great exaggerator?

 

His Transportation Sec looked surprised when he talked about kei cars here.

I'd like to see them here, but they would have to seriously undercut the lowest priced cars and SUVs.

 

Yeah. I don't see a $23,000 and up Suzuki Jimny selling much when there are $22,000 and up Chevy Trax available. Maybe if the Suzuki were $15,000, then it would sell more. But then again, I don't see American car buyers interested in kei cars enough to have a market here.

 

Toyota in the sixties was the cheapest car in America and everybody with a Chevy Impala or Ford Galaxy land yacht laughed at the Japanese upstart. Everybody "knew" Japanese stuff was poorly designed and unreliable. By 1975 Toyota was the number one import surpassing VW.