Kei car is the smallest category of Japanese, expressway-legal motor vehicles. 'Kei' is diminutive for kei-jidōsha,, "light automobile" or "compact automobile". With restricted dimensions and engine specifications, owners benefit firstly from lower taxes and insurance rates which lead to a lower overall cost of ownership. In most rural areas they were also exempted from the general Japanese shako shōmeisho (車庫証明書) parking-space ownership requirement to legally buy a motor vehicle at all, as street parking is generally restricted in Japan. Japan's carmakers also make microvans and kei trucks within this legal category.
The Daihatsu Mira is a kei car and city car built by Japanese car maker Daihatsu. It has a variety of options and chassis variations, with the latest variant having four models: Mira, Mira AVY, Mira Gino, and Mira VAN. The Mira is the latest successor to the line of cars begun with the Daihatsu Fellow of 1966, and was originally introduced as the commercial version of the Cuore. Outside of Japan, the Mira has also been offered with larger 850 or 1000-cc engines. In Australia, the two-seater version was marketed as the Daihatsu Handivan and later as the Daihatsu Handi. The term mira is Latin meaning "goal" or "purpose".
The Daihatsu Copen (Japanese: ダイハツ・コペン, Daihatsu Kopen) is a 2-door convertible kei car built by the Japanese car company Daihatsu. It debuted at the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show, as the Daihatsu Copen concept. The second generation model debuted as the Kopen (Future Included) at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show.
The Daihatsu Fellow Max is a small Japanese automobile in the Kei car class. Originally introduced as the Daihatsu Fellow, the name was partially retained for its successor, the Max Cuore (1977), and then revived in 2000 for the Daihatsu Max.
The Daihatsu Move is a kei car/city car manufactured by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu between August 1995 and June 2023. The Move was Daihatsu's response to the similarly designed Suzuki Wagon R that was introduced two years earlier in 1993. The first Move was designed by Italian design house I.DE.A Institute and succeeding generations continued to build upon the original design. The Move is built upon the chassis of the Mira but with a taller body.
The Daihatsu Terios is a mini SUV produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Daihatsu since 1997 as the successor to the F300 series Rocky. It was initially offered in both short- and long-wheelbase configurations before the former stopped production in 2016 to be replaced by the A200 series Rocky crossover in 2019. The long-wheelbase variant is available mainly for the Indonesian market with three-row seating options. A smaller kei car model called the Terios Kid/Lucia was also available for the first-generation model.
The Mitsubishi Minica is a model series of kei cars, produced by Mitsubishi Motors Corp. (MMC) over five generations, from 1962 to 2011, mainly for the Japanese domestic market.
The Suzuki Fronte is an automobile introduced in March 1962 as a sedan version of the Suzulight Van. The nameplate remained in use for Suzuki's Kei car sedans as well as some commercial-use derivatives until it was replaced by the Alto in September 1988.
The Daihatsu Hijet is a cab over microvan and kei truck produced and sold by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu since 1960. Despite the similarities between the Hijet name and Toyota's naming scheme for its trucks and vans, the name "Hijet" has been in use for Daihatsu's kei trucks and microvans since 1960, over two decades before Toyota took control. "Hijet", when transliterated into Japanese, is very similar to "Midget", one of Daihatsu's other mini-trucks. According to Daihatsu, the name "Hijet" was created to imply that the vehicle offers higher performance than the Midget. The Hijet competes in Japan with the Honda Acty, Mitsubishi Minicab, Nissan Clipper, Subaru Sambar and Suzuki Carry.
The Subaru Sambar is a cabover truck and microvan manufactured and marketed by Subaru as Japan's second truck compliant with the country's strict Keitora (軽トラ) or Kei vehicle tax class, after the Kurogane Baby. Introduced in 1961 in microvan and Kei pickup configurations, the Sambar remains in production, now in its eighth generation — beginning with the sixth generation as a rebadged Daihatsu Hijet.
The Daihatsu Rugger is an off-road vehicle built by Daihatsu between 1984 and 2002. The Rugger was also called the Rocky in most export markets, and Fourtrak in the United Kingdom. It has also received a series of different names elsewhere, which is why it is often referred to by its model designation to distinguish it from its various siblings. In Japan and the US, the Rocky name refers to the smaller F300 series of Daihatsu vehicles.
The Daihatsu Mira Gino is a kei car/city car with distinctive retro styling made by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu from 1999 to 2009. It is based on the more mainstream Mira and was first introduced to the Japanese market in 1999, with the second generation model following in 2004. The Mira Gino replaced the Mira Classic which is a subvariant of the L500 series Mira. The second generation model was also exported as the Daihatsu Trevis to some markets in Europe such as Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Gibraltar and France.
The Toyota LiteAce and TownAce are a line of light commercial and derivative passenger vans produced by the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota. These vehicles originally utilized the cab-over-engine configuration, although since 1996 a semi-cab-over arrangement has featured instead. The LiteAce launched in 1970 as light-duty truck, with commercial and van/wagon body variants added in 1971. In 1976, Toyota released the larger TownAce van/wagon that derived from the LiteAce; a TownAce truck arrived later in 1978. Between 1982 and 1992, the series accommodated the MasterAce Surf—an upscale TownAce passenger wagon.
The Daihatsu Opti is a kei car produced by Japanese automaker Daihatsu from 1992 to 2002, which replaced the Leeza. It was available with a 658 cc petrol engine and either front- or four-wheel drive, and marketed as a more upmarket variant of the Mira. The name "Opti" refers to both "optimistic" and "optimum".
The Daihatsu Leeza is a kei car with semi-coupé styling manufactured by Daihatsu. It was launched in Japan in December 1986, and discontinued in August 1993 after had been largely replaced by the Opti in 1992. While having coupé lines, most of the Leezas sold in Japan were technically commercial vehicles to take advantage of ample tax breaks for such vehicles.
The Daihatsu Storia is a subcompact car which was produced by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu between 1998 and 2005. It effectively replaced the similar sized Charade, which was produced alongside it for a year. It was also sold as the Toyota Duet in Japan, which replaced the Corolla II. In international markets, with the exception of a few countries, the Storia was sold as the first-generation Daihatsu Sirion.
The Daihatsu Gran Max is a series of light commercial vehicles produced and sold by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu since late 2007. It is also rebadged and marketed by Toyota as the Toyota LiteAce and Toyota TownAce since 2008, and by Mazda in Japan as the Mazda Bongo since 2020.
The Daihatsu E-series engine is a range of compact three-cylinder, internal combustion piston engines, designed by Daihatsu, which is a subsidiary of Toyota. The petrol-driven series has cast iron engine blocks and aluminum cylinder heads, and are of either SOHC or DOHC design, with belt driven heads.
The Daihatsu Mira e:S is a kei car manufactured by the Japanese automaker Daihatsu as the successor to the original Mira. It was previewed by the "e:S" concept car at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show. The car was introduced to the Japanese market in September 2011. It was also sold by Toyota as the Toyota Pixis Epoch, which was released on 10 May 2012 and by Subaru as the Subaru Pleo Plus, which was released on 21 December 2012.
