Small cars, big margins. BYD is going to build a lightweight vehicle (kei car) for the Japanese market and plans to start selling it as early as 2026 – something that has never been done by a non-Japanese automaker.
Kei cars in Japan are very popular with millions being registered on a yearly basis. Models such as the Honda N-Box, Nissan Sakura, Suzuki Spacia, and the Daihatsu Tanto have proven that although small, these cars sell in large numbers in the land of the rising sun.
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BYD has won several awards from Japanese EV blogs and has become the leading brand for imported EVs. Now, it wants a bigger piece of the local car market pie.
According to a report from Nikkei, BYD is close to completing developments for an electric kei car. To be as successful as domestic manufacturers, the BYD kei car has to be priced around 2.5 million yen (approx.RM 75k) similar to the Nissan Sakura.
Manufacturers must follow a set of rules to legally call their product a “kei car”. Dimensions for the car must not exceed 3.4 metres in length, 1.48 metres in width, and 2 metres height. Power is also limited to only 64 hp with an engine capacity of only 660cc (for cars with combustion engines).
These restrictions make kei cars incredibly practical for maneuvering through narrow Japanese towns and city alleyways. Combined with favorable tax and insurance policies, these factors have made the kei car market highly specific to Japan.
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With such region-specific requirements, most non-Japanese manufacturers don’t pay much attention to the kei car market. However, with BYD investing heavily in kei car development, it seems they may see potential in this niche segment that others have overlooked.
