2026 new BYD K-Car.
Last Updated:
Chinese car maker BYD will show a brand new EV at the Japan Mobility Show next month. The new model will be the first Chinese car competing in the Kei-Car segment in Japan, which is a huge deal.
The Kei-Car segment is huge in Japan and has been for many years. Kei is the smallest cathegory of cars allowed on the freeways in japan. They are so small that taxes and regulations are much lower. And their size make them perfect for the busy Japanese cities.
The segment was created all the way back to 1949. As recently as 9 years ago, the Kei-Car segment was about a third of all new cars sold in Japan. Pretty much every Japanese car maker offers one or more models in the Kei class. These days, many are even full EVs. Which makes a lot of sense.
I am actually surprised to see the huge Chinese car maker BYD try to get in on the segment in Japan. So far, Kei-Cars have been almost exclusively Japanese models. Except for a version of the Smart ForTwo with a smaller engine, sold from 2001 to 2004.
It seems BYD is aggressively pursuing all segments of the automobile industry. Even the Kei-Caers in Japan. And they could be quite successful.
The new BYD model looks really good a a lot like many Japanese Kei cars available.
It will be quite interesting to see if a Chinese manufacturer can crack that very special market in Japan.