Could Kei Cars be sold in Europe?
- Japanese law designed as early as the early 1950s specific regulations for small cars called "keijidosha" or Kei Cars that allowed local people to abandon their two-wheelers and switch to four-wheeled vehicles and small cars. budget, with the goal of low-cost mass motorization that allowed the start of a large-scale automobile industry. From 1949 to 1955, the maximum size and authorized engine capacity evolved regularly to stabilize at a length not exceeding 3 meters and a width less than 1.30 meters. From 1976 to 1990, the maximum length was increased to 3.20 m then 3.30 m in 1990 and finally 3.40 m since 1998 (over 1.48 m wide). The authorized cylinder capacity has evolved from 150 cm3 in 1949 to 360 cm3 in 1976 then 550 cm3 in 1990 and finally 660 cm3 since 1998. These small-sized vehicles benefit in Japan from a tax of 3% instead of 5% on other cars. They also benefit from other advantages, such as free places in town or cheaper insurance.
- Kei Cars traditionally represent a third of the Japanese market.
- Introducing such regulations in Europe would make it possible to create a new market in place of the A segment, which is shrinking on this continent, to fight CO2 emissions more effectively and to replace heavy and imposing vehicles in town that are not at all adapted to their environment. The question is whether electric motorization should not be added to these cars. However, we should expect an outcry from car manufacturers who are increasingly reluctant to produce low-margin cars, which are Kei Cars.
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