kei car

plural kei cars

1. A kind of light passenger automobile sold in Japan. Vehicles of this type are distinguished by the use of smaller engines (with displacement up to 660 cc), and yellow and black (or black and yellow) license plates.

   1 more example

   Nissan Motor Co. revamped one of its more popular lightweight kei cars as the Japanese carmaker refreshes its aging lineup. The fourth-generation Roox will go on sale by the end of the year for ¥1.6 million ($10,800), the company said Friday. The new model has better mileage, more safety features and built-in connectivity. Kei cars account for about a third of Japan’s automobile market and the Roox, a gasoline-powered automobile initially released in 2009, has sold an average of 80,000 units per year, making it one of the more popular kei models among the three that Nissan sells. The carmaker is releasing the vehicle as it looks to cut costs, eliminate jobs and shutter factories. […] Japan’s best-selling kei car is Honda Motor Co.’s N-BOX, which sold more than 200,000 units in 2024.

   2025 August 21, Emi Tanimoto, “Nissan Updates Popular Kei Car as It Revamps Aging Lineup”, in Bloomberg News, archived from the original on 22 Aug 2025