Kei car is the smallest category of Japanese, expressway-legal motor vehicles. 'Kei' is diminutive for kei-jidōsha,, or "light automobile". With restricted dimensions and engine specifications, owners benefit firstly from lower taxes and insurance rates. And in most rural areas, importantly, 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 Mazda Bongo, also known as Mazda E-Series and the Ford Econovan, is a cabover van and pickup truck manufactured by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Mazda since 1966. The Bongo name was also used for the Bongo Friendee, which is not a cabover design.
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 Nissan Caravan is a light commercial van designed for use as a fleet vehicle or cargo van and manufactured by Nissan since 1973. Between 1976 and 1997, a rebadged version of the Caravan sold as the Nissan Homy, which was introduced as an independent model in 1965. Outside Japan, the Caravan was also sold as either the Nissan Urvan or Nissan King Van, or earlier with Datsun badging.
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 Mitsubishi Delica is a range of vans and pickup trucks designed and built by the Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors since 1968. It was originally based on a cabover van and pickup truck introduced the previous year, also called the Delica, its name a contraction of the English language phrase Delivery car. This pickup truck, and a commercial van derived from it has received many names in export markets, being sold as the L300 in Europe, Jamaica and New Zealand, Express and Starwagon in Australia, and plain Mitsubishi Van and Wagon in the United States. The passenger car versions were known as Delica Star Wagon from 1979 until the 1994 introduction of the Delica Space Gear, which became simply Space Gear in Europe at least. The most recent version is called the Delica D:5. With the exception of the first, versions of all generations are still being sold in various international markets.
The Nissan Civilian is a single-decker minibus built by Japanese automaker Nissan since 1971. It is primarily available as a public bus and an intercity bus. In Japan, it was exclusive to Nissan Store locations, and replaced the Nissan Echo, which was introduced in 1958. The Echo's chassis code continued to be used on the Civilian (GC340), reflecting their shared underpinnings with the Nissan Caball (C140/240/340).
The Nissan Atlas is a series of pickup trucks and light commercial vehicles manufactured by Nissan. It is built by UD Trucks for the Japanese market, and by the Renault-Nissan Alliance for the European market. The lighter range vehicles, weighing from 1 to 1.5 tons, replaced the earlier Cabstar and Homer (F20), while the heavier Caball and Clipper (C340) were replaced by the 2-to-4 ton range Atlas. The Atlas nameplate was first introduced in December 1981, available at Nissan Bluebird Store locations.
The Mitsubishi Town Box is a kei car and minivan produced for the Japanese domestic market (JDM) by the Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors. It was initially available with the alloy-headed 4A30 657 cc inline-four engine, but switched to the 3G83 659 cc straight-three engine in 2002. From June 1999 until August 2001, a slightly larger version of the same vehicle powered by a 4A31 1.1 L straight-four, the Mitsubishi Town Box Wide, was also available. The first generation Town Box was discontinued in November 2011, ending the twelve-year production run. The nameplate returned in February 2014 on a rebadged version of the Suzuki Every Wagon.
The Mitsubishi Minicab is a kei truck and microvan, built and sold in Japan by Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors since 1966. In Japan, it was sold at a specific retail chain called Galant Shop. It was also sold by China Motor Corporation (CMC) in Taiwan as the CMC Veryca, starting in 1985. A battery electric model of the Minicab, called the Minicab MiEV, is sold in the Japanese market since December 2011.
The Suzuki Carry is a kei truck produced by the Japanese automaker Suzuki. The microvan version was originally called the Carry van until 1982 when the passenger van versions were renamed as the Suzuki Every. In Japan, the Carry and Every are kei cars but the Suzuki Every Plus, the bigger version of Every, had a longer bonnet for safety purposes and a larger 1.3-liter 86-hp (63 kW) four-cylinder engine. They have been sold under myriad different names in several countries, including those with Chevrolet and Ford badges.
A microvan is a van or minivan which is within the Japanese kei car classification or similar, and is smaller than a mini MPV. In China, these vehicles are nicknamed miàn bāo chē because of their shape. Similarly, in several Hispanic American countries, these vehicles are called pan de molde, which means "bread loaf". In Indonesia, it is commonly called a minibus due to their tall roof, perceived as resembling a miniature bus; the term is also used generally to refer to any type of three-row MPVs.
Nissan Cabstar is the name used in Japan for two lines of pickup trucks and light commercial vehicles sold by Nissan and built by UD Nissan Diesel, a Volvo AB company and by Renault-Nissan Alliance for the European market. The name originated with the 1968 Datsun Cabstar, but this was gradually changed over to "Nissan" badging in the early 1980s. The lighter range replaced the earlier Cabstar and Homer, while the heavier Caball and Clipper were replaced by the 2-4 ton range Atlas (kana:日産・アトラス). The nameplate was first introduced in December 1981.The Cabstar is known also as the Nissan Cabstar, Renault Maxity and Samsung SV110 depending on the location. The range has been sold around the world. It shares its platform with the Nissan Caravan. In spring 2014, Cabstar is now known as NT400.
A kei truck, kei-class truck, or Japanese mini truck is a mini truck, a type of pickup truck available in rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive versions, built to satisfy the Japanese keijidōsha statutory class. They are known as keitora in Japan alongside the microvan.
The Wuling Dragon was a series of cabover microvans and kei trucks made by SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile, the Chinese joint venture with General Motors of the United States of America. The Dragon is the successor of the earlier Liuzhou Wuling LZ110, which was based on the 1977-1984 Mitsubishi Minicab.
The Nissan Caball is a light commercial truck manufactured by Nissan Motors from December 1957 until December 1981. The Caball was mainly sold in Japan, Hong Kong, South East Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand, and few European countries and shared the Nissan Junior platform. While the Caball name came to an end in 1981 with the cancellation of the Junior, its larger replacement received the Nissan Atlas name in the domestic Japanese market. These are 2-4 ton trucks, the lighter versions in the Atlas truck range took over after the lesser Cabstar/Homer. In Japan, it was available at Nissan Store locations and replaced by the Nissan Atlas.
Wuling Motor Holdings., Ltd, is a Chinese manufacturer of automobiles, subsidiary of Guangxi Automotive Group.
The Suzuki R engine is an inline-three engine that has been produced by Suzuki since 2011. Initially introduced in the third-generation MR Wagon, and intended as a replacement for the K6A engine, the R engine has since been used in various Suzuki's, such as the Alto, the Wagon R, and the Carry.
The CMC Veryca (中華菱利) or CMC Varica (中華百利/中華威利) is a cabover kei truck and microvan built and sold in Taiwan by the Taiwanese automaker China Motor Corporation (CMC) (中華汽車) since 1985, with its predecessor entering production in 1978.
Nissan Prince Clipper T65 (1966-1972)
