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Even if kei trucks imported from Japan perform poorly in crash tests, they demonstrate that there is a market for smaller, more utilitarian trucks in North Amer

Even if kei trucks imported from Japan perform poorly in crash tests, they demonstrate that there is a market for smaller, more utilitarian trucks in North America -- a market that could be filled with something a little bit bigger perhaps and with more safety features.

tayo42 2y ago
Ford maverick fits that and still no one else makes anything comparable. There are wait lists and dealer mark ups. Not as small as these but way smaller then pickups and handles like a big car. Hybrid awd model is coming this year
- freetime2 2y ago
  Kei trucks have a much longer bed than the Maverick. About 2m on a Kei truck vs. 1.37m on a Maverick. The sides of the bed can also be lowered in addition to the rear gate, which is incredibly useful for loading/unloading. The Maverick is a cool truck, but feels more like a passenger car that can do light truck duty when needed. Whereas the a kei truck is really all about utility.
- toast0 2y ago
  A 2024 maverick is close to the same footprint as 2007 ranger, but the maverick is 10 inches longer, but the bed is 18 inches shorter. Of course, some kei trucks manage a 6 foot bed in the 11.2 length maximum. https://www.edmunds.com/car-comparisons/?veh1=402004783&veh2=100716905 https://www.edmunds.com/car-comparisons/?veh1=402004783&veh2...
  - tayo42 2y ago
    Yeah I just mean there's clearly a under served market for smaller and practical trucks. Not everyone wants or needs these giant "mid size" trucks
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
thomassmith65 2y ago
How old are these mini-trucks? The article mentions a '91; similar American-made vehicles also had some safety issues in the 1990s. • Dateline NBC 1996 Minivan Crash Testing (https://youtu.be/QNNkAvT6lns https://youtu.be/QNNkAvT6lns) Then again, maybe more domestic vehicles should be illegal.
- jen729w 2y ago
  My neighbour (in Australia) just bought a brand-new truck like this. They're in active development and production. Not that I'd feel all that safe in it. The cabin is essentially a matchbox.
  - toast0 2y ago
    Yeah, they're in current production, but in the US we can only really import them for general use if they're 25 years or more old. Newer than that and it needs to meet the US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), and probably also the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards too. So everything we see tends to be fairly old. Some states make it pretty hard to register these vehicles too, you don't see very many kei trucks in California because they're too hard to register; import shops exist in California, but tend to sell to drivers in other states.
VariousPrograms 2y ago
A safe, air conditioned kei truck would be great, but I can’t imagine a small truck in America given the current gigantic car culture. Sedans are too small for the American market now, let alone subcompact cars which are already gone.
- herbst 2y ago
  How can a car be to small for your streets when there are bikes and whatever also driving around? I am really lost on this point
  - skinner927 2y ago
    It’s pretty dangerous to ride a bike on US streets
  - yetihehe 2y ago
    Purely logical sentence refuting your comment: bikes driving around doesn't mean they are big enough for the street.
    - otherme123 2y ago
      But they are not banned. If A is banned because it's small, but B is not banned despite being smaller than A, then the logic doesn't support banning of A. Change small for dangerous, if you want.
      - yetihehe 2y ago
        Maybe B should be banned then? I think in the original post he should not use "if A then B" with those exact objects.
        otherme123 2y ago
        Problem with banning B (bikes, to not get lost) is that even SUVs are small and fragile to big trucks. Should all vehicles in the road be banned due to its size, except the biggest trucks? The problem is that banning key cars for their size or fragility is logically inconsistent. Banning now smaller vehicles like motorcycles and bikes is a patch to wrong logic. This is just targeting a specific kind of car because some reason that the regulator doesn't want to disclose.

tayo42 2y ago

Ford maverick fits that and still no one else makes anything comparable. There are wait lists and dealer mark ups. Not as small as these but way smaller then pickups and handles like a big car. Hybrid awd model is coming this year

freetime2 2y ago
Kei trucks have a much longer bed than the Maverick. About 2m on a Kei truck vs. 1.37m on a Maverick. The sides of the bed can also be lowered in addition to the rear gate, which is incredibly useful for loading/unloading. The Maverick is a cool truck, but feels more like a passenger car that can do light truck duty when needed. Whereas the a kei truck is really all about utility.
toast0 2y ago
A 2024 maverick is close to the same footprint as 2007 ranger, but the maverick is 10 inches longer, but the bed is 18 inches shorter. Of course, some kei trucks manage a 6 foot bed in the 11.2 length maximum. https://www.edmunds.com/car-comparisons/?veh1=402004783&veh2=100716905 https://www.edmunds.com/car-comparisons/?veh1=402004783&veh2...
- tayo42 2y ago
  Yeah I just mean there's clearly a under served market for smaller and practical trucks. Not everyone wants or needs these giant "mid size" trucks
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]

thomassmith65 2y ago

How old are these mini-trucks? The article mentions a '91; similar American-made vehicles also had some safety issues in the 1990s. • Dateline NBC 1996 Minivan Crash Testing (https://youtu.be/QNNkAvT6lns https://youtu.be/QNNkAvT6lns) Then again, maybe more domestic vehicles should be illegal.

jen729w 2y ago
My neighbour (in Australia) just bought a brand-new truck like this. They're in active development and production. Not that I'd feel all that safe in it. The cabin is essentially a matchbox.
- toast0 2y ago
  Yeah, they're in current production, but in the US we can only really import them for general use if they're 25 years or more old. Newer than that and it needs to meet the US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), and probably also the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards too. So everything we see tends to be fairly old. Some states make it pretty hard to register these vehicles too, you don't see very many kei trucks in California because they're too hard to register; import shops exist in California, but tend to sell to drivers in other states.

VariousPrograms 2y ago

A safe, air conditioned kei truck would be great, but I can’t imagine a small truck in America given the current gigantic car culture. Sedans are too small for the American market now, let alone subcompact cars which are already gone.

herbst 2y ago
How can a car be to small for your streets when there are bikes and whatever also driving around? I am really lost on this point
- skinner927 2y ago
  It’s pretty dangerous to ride a bike on US streets
- yetihehe 2y ago
  Purely logical sentence refuting your comment: bikes driving around doesn't mean they are big enough for the street.
  - otherme123 2y ago
    But they are not banned. If A is banned because it's small, but B is not banned despite being smaller than A, then the logic doesn't support banning of A. Change small for dangerous, if you want.
    - yetihehe 2y ago
      Maybe B should be banned then? I think in the original post he should not use "if A then B" with those exact objects.
      - otherme123 2y ago
        Problem with banning B (bikes, to not get lost) is that even SUVs are small and fragile to big trucks. Should all vehicles in the road be banned due to its size, except the biggest trucks? The problem is that banning key cars for their size or fragility is logically inconsistent. Banning now smaller vehicles like motorcycles and bikes is a patch to wrong logic. This is just targeting a specific kind of car because some reason that the regulator doesn't want to disclose.