Kei Car

You may not have ever heard of a car called the Daihatsu Copen, but it's ending production and we're sad to report it. The Copen is (or was) made by the budget Toyota brand and stands as the only convertible kei car – those being the whimsical little cars that zip around Japan – still ...

Subaru is walking away from minicars. According to Just-Auto.com, parent company Fuji Heavy Industries is looking to concentrate its efforts small and mid-sized vehicles moving forward. While Japan still enjoys a thriving kei car market, the vehicles aren't as profitable as their larger ...

Last year, 34 percent of all Honda vehicles sold around the globe were produced in Japan, but that number could change drastically over the next decade. Reuters reports that Honda CEO Takanobu Ito told Japan's Asahi newspaper that the automaker will drop its exports to 10-20 percent over the next ...

Toyota has announced that it will unveil its first-ever kei car to be sold under its recently launched Pixis sub-brand. The vehicle, called the Pixis Space, will make its official debut in late September. Based on the Daihatsu Move Conte, the Pixis Space will be sold at Toyota dealerships through ...

Rumors have swirled for some time that Honda has been looking to revive its diminutive Beat. The Japanese Domestic Market kei car was produced from 1991 through 1996, and featured a tiny 650cc (that's 40 cubic inches to us 'Muricans) three-cylinder engine that produced 63 horsepower (Japan's ...

Every once in a while, a set of spy photos comes through that makes us stare at our computer screens like we're looking for the secret image inside of a Magic Eye stereogram picture. This is one of those cases, as we simply ...

The Translogic crew is still bumming around Japan. For the show's third episode in the island nation, host Bradley Hasemeyer heads to Sagamihara to tour Dream Factory Blow. No, it's not a cocaine supercenter. The ...

Toyota is looking to get bigger... by going smaller. The Japanese automaker is looking to enter the kei car market, a popular segment in its homeland. Kei cars are small vehicles with restrictions on length (11.15 feet), width (4.86 feet), engine size (660 cubic centimeters) and power output (63 ...

We're looking at a long, nearly straight, almost totally traffic-free downhill. We'd climbed up to the base of the Palm Springs to Idyllwild Ariel Tramway. Our goal was to see how fast Mitsubishi's tiny i could go. We're on the gas, and ...

Daihatsu didn't just bring out its big little guns, it had a couple of tiny guns there as well, such as this, the Volvo C30-esque e:S. Called "a new eco-car that reveals the future role of mini vehicles," it focuses earnestly on ...