United States | Tiny trucks

Rural Americans are importing tiny Japanese pickup trucks

Bigger isn’t always better

KMTEB3 Man looking at the sea from a wall in a peaceful enviroment
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|CHICAGO

A couple of years ago Jake Morgan, a farmer who lives just outside Raleigh, in North Carolina, realised he needed a new vehicle to get around his property. At first he was looking at “side-by-sides”—a sort of off-road utility vehicle. But watching a review on YouTube of one that costs around $30,000 made by John Deere, he saw a comment that said something like “Why don’t you just get a minitruck instead?” That is, a tiny four-wheel drive pickup truck, sometimes known as a “Kei” truck, mostly made in Japan to take advantage of laws there which tax smaller vehicles less.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “What a Kei-motion”

From the April 22nd 2023 edition

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