Yeah, that's another area that proves the point. Enthusiasts often bemoan that Keis are not sold outside Japan, but if you look at the markets around Japan, they all get "microcars" that are bigger, more powerful and often just as efficient as the Keis. And they're cheaper, on average.
Allowing for market factors to determine the size, shape and abilities of cars will typically result in bigger cars. Without Kei tax breaks, the class would have shrunk and even possibly disappeared years ago... subsumed by the global microcar class.
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Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr
Wishing something "bigger" and perceived as "better" doesn't mean it would be affordable enough. Regarding the three-wheeler market in China, it somewhat does surprise me that it's dying out. At least for some commercial operators it's still a reasonable option, in spite of their lack of "status" and "prestige".
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Yup. But that also only lasts until economies of scale push the business to get a more "practical" cargo vehicle with higher speed and capacity. The niche for three-wheelers like the Piaggio APE only covers small businesses in urban areas where traffic limits speed for larger cargo vehicles.