From our other sites
The story
Nikkei’s editorial ‘Can Japan Learn from BYD’s Kei Car Entry?’ was published on September 24, 2026, and sparked discussion on 5channel’s Breaking News+ board. Posters in the thread point out that BYD’s in-house-developed kei EV, the ‘Racco,’ has managed only 1,500 units out of the gate against an annual sales target of 10,000. Some see significance in the fact that a former Nissan engineer was involved in its development, and speculate it may be laying the groundwork for markets like Europe, India, and Africa where small cars sell well — while persistent skepticism over battery safety and after-sales support kept opinion divided.
[Editorial] Can Japan Learn from BYD’s Kei Car Entry? – Nikkei
September 24, 2026, 19:05
BYD developed a dedicated platform for its kei EV ‘Racco’ (July 28, Minato Ward, Tokyo)
Source: nikkei.com / Original article here
What people said
Puff piece
Yeah…
With a target of 10,000 units and only 1,500 out of the gate, there's no way they hit that target
This 'Racco' car is really just a trial run in Japan — they're watching how it does on kei cars' home turf while planning to sell it widely across Asia and Africa.
It'll probably hit a ceiling in Japan pretty quickly, but the real goal only makes sense as a foothold to expand into third-world markets.
The plan is to slip in quickly wherever Japan hesitates to move.
Japan could be selling these but sits around doing nothing, then lets China swoop in and snatch it right out from under them — that's the Japanese for you, a bunch of dimwits
Actually, hold on — small cars like kei cars actually sell well in Europe and India. Southeast Asia and Africa also favor reasonably priced options.
it says, and then
> it's essential that Japanese automakers also break free of old frameworks and cooperate closely with a wide range of companies.
…huh? So which is it, make parts in-house or outsource to a bunch of companies? This article is seriously wishy-washy.
Even someone like me with a hensachi (academic percentile score) under 60 can understand it though
'The Nikkei Weird Times' (a pun swapping in 珍, 'bizarre,' for 新, 'new' in Nikkei's name)
I thought the same thing. What's this article even trying to say?
Re: #23
Please, explain it so even a dummy like me can understand
The Racco
D-Chain, servicing and backup
Saw a Sealion 7 in Tokyo for the first time — it was seriously huge. That thing probably can't supply power to your house during a blackout, right? Might still be worth considering if you live in a detached house though.
> BYD developed the Racco in about two years
lol
The Racco is really just a copy of the N-BOX. Maybe what Japanese automakers should learn is China's shamelessness?
The article probably means it as praise, but from a buyer's perspective, something thrown together that fast is scary — I wouldn't want to ride in it.
Wait, you actually believe that? lol
So it's Japanese-made then. Oh, is that so. Still not buying it though — the parts are all Chinese, right?
That guy himself said the car was already finished by the time he joined BYD lol. Even so, wanting the 'made by a Japanese engineer' label shows they're taking their marketing seriously.
Will BYD still be supplying parts 40 years from now?
Funny how people who used to trash TikTok, LINE, and Xiaomi so hard now love them lol
So did you actually buy a BYD? lol
No need to deliberately build a kei-sized car that's luxurious and heavy though
A kei car like Toyota's Progrès (a compact luxury sedan from the late '90s) wouldn't be a bad idea
Exactly right.
If they build out variations on this platform, they'll end up with an easy, low-cost car tailored to each local market. They'll probably adjust things like suspension and wheel size for each region too. The other side is basically unstoppable — they can afford to ignore profitability entirely. I want Japanese automakers to band together and fight back.
It's not so much that EVs are being rejected — it's that Chinese manufacturing attitudes are garbage, that's why they're not selling.
You can't put your own life or your family's life in a Chinese-made coffin on wheels.
If any motor journalist recommends it, stop trusting anything they write from now on — those guys will write whatever they're paid to.
Same thing happened with smartphones — everyone said the Chinese Communist Party would steal your personal data, and they still sold like crazy in the end. That's just the times we live in.
So are you saying they're actually selling well? lol
With a phone, you can just buy a cheap one and replace it if it breaks, but a car is a major purchase — once it breaks, just holding onto it costs money, and scrapping it costs money too. Reliable manufacturer and dealer support is obviously essential, and it's a real problem if the manufacturer's gone in 5 or 10 years. That goes double for Chinese companies that seem to think they can just shut up shop the moment things get inconvenient.
Actually, the warranty is longer with Chinese makers though…
BYD's warranty is split up by component — the battery, which is their strong suit, has a long warranty, but everything else is about the same as Japanese makers or even shorter. Mitsubishi, for instance, gives a flat 10-year warranty across everything from their kei EV to the Outlander PHEV. Don't just go off vibes, actually look it up.
That's only true as long as the manufacturer doesn't disappear or abandon support and pull out. Even Mercedes and BMW get question marks over support reliability just for being foreign brands — so a Chinese upstart that's only been around 20-odd years, making EVs whose reliability is questionable and that need regular battery replacement, is even more of a risk.
You guys said the same thing about Samsung phones catching fire, right? The moment you all started saying that, Samsung went on to be world No. 1 for 12 years straight.
And it looks like they're back on top again.
Toyota, Tesla, Daihatsu, and Suzuki have all started sourcing batteries from BYD. If they caught fire, they wouldn't be using them.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
Kei cars are a uniquely Japanese vehicle category, treated as a domestic-only segment due to tax breaks and the shaken inspection system — but demand for compact, affordable cars is also huge in Europe, India, Southeast Asia, and Africa, and the thread floats the view that for BYD, the ‘Racco’ is less about the Japanese market itself and more a foothold for expanding into emerging markets. Skepticism remains strong over the safety of Chinese-made batteries and whether the manufacturer will still be around down the line, but posters also point to the fact that Toyota, Suzuki, and Daihatsu have adopted BYD batteries for their budget models, so opinions on quality are far from uniform. It’s also easy to overlook that warranty terms vary by component — the battery may carry a long warranty, but other parts are often little different from, or even shorter than, domestic makers’.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Breaking News+) thread ‘[Racco] [Editorial] Can Japan Learn from BYD’s Kei Car Entry?‘.
Leave a Reply