On the backdrop of announcing a reversal on the corporate average fuel economy standard set under the Biden administration, US President Donald Trump opened the doors for automakers to manufacture smaller, more fuel-efficient and affordable cars in the United States. Speaking during the press conference, Trump broached the topic of small cars sold in markets like Japan, South Korea and Malaysia, “sort of like what the Beetle used to be.”
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Trump went on to say that he had asked the US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy to allow the production of the cars in the US immediately.
Trump is eyeing changing regulations to allow smaller, more fuel efficient cars to be manufactured and sold in the US.
“Some of the Japanese companies do a beautiful job, but we are not allowed to make them in this country, and I think we are going to do very well with those cars. We are going to approve those cars,” Trump said.
Adding to Trump’s proposal, Transport Secretary Duffy said, “He gave me the directive to clear the regulations on this, to which we have, and so if Toyota or any other company wants to make smaller, more affordable cars, we have cleared the deck so that they can make them in America.”
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City cars and superminis sold in European markets could see entry burdens ease for European markets.
The interpretation of ‘small cars’, however, remains open to debate, whether it could include the famed Japanese Kei cars or be limited to what European markets call the super minis and city cars. Japan’s Kei cars meet very strict regulations with engine capacities limited to 660 cc and measuring not more than 3.4 m in length, and while approved for use in Japan, they will not meet US road regulations.
Kei cars face notable headwinds in terms of safety and regulatory hurdles, so it remains to be seen if these could officially make it to the US market.
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Reports cite numerous issues with the proposal, particularly pertaining to Kei cars, centred around models not meeting the road safety standards set by the NHTSA and state-level bans on registrations for private imports
While the introduction of Kei cars could be contentious, a more apt option could be the range of small cars sold by Japanese & Korean brands in markets across Europe and Asia, such as the Hyundai i20, Honda Fit (Jazz) & Kia Picanto. The models, should American manufacturing commence, could help address the key point of making vehicles more affordable and fuel-efficient while having an easier time meeting safety regulations.
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