In the midst of rolling back fuel efficiency standards, President Donald Trump signaled an unexpected plan to get tiny cars built in America by removing regulatory hurdles. He cited the "cute" kei vehicles he had recently seen in Japan as inspiration.
Smaller vehicles can provide improved fuel efficiency, which saves money and reduces pollution from traveling. Plus, they tend to be more affordable than large vehicles. However, some are skeptical that domestic manufacturers would start producing tiny cars, even with a regulatory revamp.
"It's nigh-impossible to convince any manufacturer to even build a sedan, hatchback or small SUV for the US, or to build any small-displacement vehicle," wrote Electrek's Jameson Dow. "Regulations and manufacturers have both pushed vehicle sizes larger and larger, and consumer tastes have happily followed, with US drivers wasting more and more money and space on larger and more polluting vehicles."
Trump: If you go to Japan and South Korea and Malaysia, they have a very small car… Very small and really cute. You're not allowed to build them and I have authorized the secretary to immediately approve the production of those cars. pic.twitter.com/MT6qchy8Bk
— Acyn (@Acyn) December 3, 2025
Smaller vehicles like Smart cars had historically been available in America, but aggressive marketing for larger and larger vehicles had crushed demand, leading to the Smart's sole U.S. car's eventual discontinuation.
That said, Mini Cooper has been successful in the U.S., and there may be an untapped market for kei-style cars with proper marketing — particularly with the support of the right influencers.
And smaller cars, generally, lead to more fuel efficiency, which is a step in the right direction even when not electric and even when the purchaser is not doing so to reduce pollution. Fuel efficiency, first and foremost for a car buyer, means fewer stops for — and dollars spent on — gas.
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Regardless, the ballooning size of American cars has created a massive safety hazard for pedestrians and increased gas usage, offsetting many historical gains in fuel efficiency.
Bigger cars also ramped up travel emissions. As bigger cars spew more pollutants into the atmosphere, weather patterns become more destructive and erratic, which in turn does serious damage to agriculture and housing.
Switching to an EV remains the most affordable and clean option out there. While their manufacturing requires more pollution, Reuters and many others who have performed testing have found that an electric car generally needs to be driven for only about 13,500 miles before it completely makes up for its manufacturing pollution. From there, every mile driven is both cheaper and less polluting on the environment.
Social media users were cynical about Trump's intentions to mobilize small cars in America.
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"Shrink everything, charge more," said one X user.
"The Honda Fit was a fantastic car and a fantastic crowd favorite amongst the affordable car buying populace," replied another community member. "Honda did not kill it because of regulations, Honda killed it because they weren't happy with the profit margins on it so I don't see how the government is going to fix that issue."
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