Yesterday, Jim Brophy treated us to a treatise on the newest Kei cars in Japan. I realized I had some pictures of Japan’s best seller from my visit to Tokyo late last year and figured Jim had provided the perfect opening for me. Honda’s N-BOX is now in its third generation and sells over 200,000 examples a year; the example featured here is the “Joy” model, a somewhat retro-inspired version amongst the lineup. I saw it when I visited the little Honda showroom on the ground floor of Honda’s Tokyo headquarters and was smitten by it.
Kei cars are all about providing the maximum interior space within the minimum (regulated) exterior footprint. Most have lines that are more straight-edge than French curve, which to our western eyes looks a little odd at first. However, once you get inside one, you can marvel at the space that is on offer, especially in regards to headroom, both above the head as well as side to side. Tumblehome is not a concept that gets high billing on the Kei van design checklist.
The inclination amongst many is to dismiss small, cheap cars as being penalty boxes inside, this is not the case. Finishes can look rich, feel good, and be well designed if a manufacturer so chooses (and vice-versa of course). All the modern conveniences are on offer in modern Kei cars, in Tokyo a screen is pretty much required to get around as the city is not on a grid system and addresses are all but inscrutable to the non-initiated. Some plastics may be hard and durable but there are plenty of soft touch surfaces in strategic locations, interesting uses of color, and clever storage solutions. An adult male such as myself at 6’1″ and 220 or so pounds has no issue getting in, out, or getting comfortable behind the wheel. The distance to the passenger is closer than in a Chevy Silverado of course but less close than when one sits three-abreast in the back seat of that same truck.
Japan has an aging population, and comfort as well as easy ingress and egress are of paramount importance. Many Kei cars (as well as other Japanese-market vehicles) offer all sorts of mobility devices to help with that such as swiveling seats or even seats that literally lift themselves out of a car mechanically to make the task even simpler for those less able. This one didn’t have that, but the dual sliding doors make for a wide entry into the rear seats, which in many (most? all?) Keis can move forward and aft to provide more leg room (usually already quite generous) or more storage space behind the seats. A flat and low load floor is a normal offering when the seats are folded.
The rear hatch is pretty much a vertical panel that provides a lovely dry overhang when loading in the rain. The liftover height is extremely low, and notice that the front seatbacks feature little folding tray tables. Everything is assembled with typical Honda precision and quality, and frankly is delightful to look at, touch, and play with. Maybe if living there and seeing them constantly in traffic the novelty would wear off, but they just make so much sense.
I cannot read Japanese but can certainly look at pictures and try to decipher some of it. At the bottom is what we would call a van-lifer posing for an Instagram shot at the seaside, the top image looks to be the same person getting ready for a little morning exercise after getting away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Or traffic. It makes for a calming and tranquil feeling though even though the number on the sticker looks mighty large at first. But that’s deceiving…
The price appears to be 2,564,100 yen. That seems like a big number until you realize that today the exchange rate is about 157 yen to the dollar. So that makes it $16,332 United States Dollars. I assume that’s the “as equipped” number, the smaller 2.2million yen number (US$14,012) seems like the starting price and then 364,100 yen (US$2,319) worth of options. There seem to be some options listed at the lower left, with Honda Connect going for almost a quarter million yen, which is about US$1,600 and the biggest option. Maybe that’s the infotainment and navigation system? I don’t know but someone else might be able to decipher it. I also have no idea if that includes all taxes and is out the door or if something like a VAT is additional, either way, that’s FAR cheaper than virtually anything on offer in the U.S. today and may be what the doctor ordered since it’s looking like needs are going to be prioritized over wants by many going forward.
The gas mileage appears to be between 24.8 km/l and 20.2 km/l which looks like it’s on two different rating scales or is something like city and highway; converted to the normal US mpg number that would be between 58.3mpg and 47.5mpg, not bad for the automotive equivalent of a cinder block as far as shape goes. The engine is of course a 658cc 3-banger (660 limit for kei class cars), supposely available in either normally aspirated (58hp) as well as turbocharged (64hp, plus more torque) and it appears there is also an AWD version available but don’t hold me to that, the internet is difficult to trust these days for research. Weight of the vehicle is between 2000 and 2200 pounds depending on equipment. As a pedestrian they all seem to scoot along quite quickly, they certainly are not holding up traffic by any means.
If I lived in Tokyo I’d perhaps be looking at one of these. Or maybe not, the Nissan Sakura competitor appeals even more to me, being an EV, although gas in Tokyo isn’t really that expensive, around US$5 a gallon. Actually in Tokyo proper there is almost zero need for a car, since public transportation is abundant, clean, safe, fast, cheap and generally comfortable but a simple bicycle gets many people around even more efficiently. A traditional western-style car (or truck)? Not much point, really.
Here’s the current Honda Fit though, known as the Jazz in most places, Honda stopped sending us the Fit at the end of the prior generation. Frankly, it’s boring compared to any of the kei cars, at least in a city such as Tokyo. As is the Civic Type R behind it…
Will Honda start to send these little cars over here to sell ? Also have they thought about building them here ???
THANKS !!!
Lovely little rig, but American drivers are just too dumb to accept that it’s a city use only device. Plus, our motto is “Drive Faster -Take Chances”. One trip on the New Jersey Turnpike or Interstate 295 where tractor trailers blow past at high speed would send one of these tumbling off into the weeds.
Having driven a slightly wider but similarly boxy and light car (Scion xB) for 20 years, I can utterly assure that a passing truck is not going to blow one in the weeds or otherwise. Have you ever driven something comparable?
Paul, I may have been a little overzealous, but a I do recall that my 2000 Prius would get pushed around quite a bit by big rigs and heavy crosswinds. I miss the Nissan Cube, the first gen Xb, and would welcome a Kei car in my driveway. The versatility, price, and fuel economy make them very desirable. It’s time to get back to stylish, practical vehicles.
I’ve seen plenty of them on the expressways on my various trips to Japan – they didn’t appear to have any problems with the trucks or keeping up with the traffic.
I really like these N-Boxes – especially the Joy. The plaid interior is a nice touch.
The 2,200,000 is the base price and the added 364,100 is all the taxes, dealers fees, etc., so the price listed is “out the door”.
This one is a fully loaded Turbo – the base model is around 1,800,000 yen.
As I hit 70 next month, I’m seriously considering trading in the Volvo for one of these.
I would buy it just based on the plaid interior alone! It’s nice plaid too – reminds me of upholstery in 1970s/80s German cars.
Thanks for the pricing insight! So base is around USD$11,500… plus around 16% in fees and taxes, similar to various states here once all the registration stuff is done.
Woops, I spoke too soon – gomen nasai….
The 364K are the dealer options – looks like taxes and fees weren’t added in – strange as most other stickers I’ve seen include them.
Here’s a base grade one for sale…the added taxes and fees look about right to me.
https://www.goo-net.com/usedcar/spread/goo_sort/13/700056108530250927002.html
Thanks for showing us this in more detail. While these are clearly not the best solution for everyone in the US, or even the great majority, I could see quite a few scenarios where they would be a good fit. Pizza and all kinds of delivery services; taxis in urban areas, older folks who don’t take longer driving trips anymore, kiddie hauler to school and such. And more…like me. I rarely take my xB more than 30-50 miles; otherwise it’s the van or the TSX.
That front end puts me in mind of….
Ideal for city dwellers commuting to work, if you keep off the freeways. While I don’t doubt it would do freeway speeds, I’d prefer something a size larger for that pace.
Hard to understand why Honda marketed a car with the name of Fit in the US when it was called Jazz elsewhere. There is no conflicting car model name that I know of that would trademark block Jazz for the USA.
The only thing that came to mind when I heard of a Honda Fit was “”throw a fit” as in tantrum or toss the little thing.
Other possibilities are tiny car on a diet, or tiny car works out in some gym. Not concepts I think of in connection to a car.
A Honda Jazz doesn’t sound anywhere near as stupid as Fit.
So, are they really all that roomy, Jim? 6’1″, 220lbs, maybe: but clearly you didn’t take your fabled inside leg with you, so it doesn’t mean much, does it now?
The keis are all uglier than a selection from a list of your most depraved sins, but I can’t help but love them. This would suit me fine. You can’t speed here, and I drive mostly urban, with skinny Victorian-era streets and shitty under-sized parking spaces from dodgy developers. It’d easily hold 100kmh (62mph) on a trip, and I’m never in enough of a rush anymore to be bothered overtaking anyone. Heaps of usable room, bugger-all fuel consumption, and Honda quality. From experience with Hondas, they don’t even care about a bit of rough-road driving done sensibly (probably that quality factor). Brilliant.
I’d love it even more because driving one would annoy the many drivers of raised monster 4wds, whose IQ’s are inversely proportionate to every centimeter their cars are heightened. I’d get a large back window sticker saying “I love you”.
I’d love it even more because driving one would annoy the many drivers of raised monster 4wds, whose IQ’s are inversely proportionate to every centimeter their cars are heightened. I’d get a large back window sticker saying “I love you”.
This! It’s my contrarian streak that really loves these. Well, that and my practical streak. And my cheap streak.
Here in HK, Fit and Jazz are two distinctly different models; the Fit being slightly larger that the Jazz, but otherwise hard to tell apart.
Like Paul, I mostly enjoyed my 1G Scion xB. I just wished it had a tad more power, like the (Corolla-based) Scion xD 1.8 liter.
There’s no need for “American kei” vans to be as small and low-powered as the Japanese regulations call for. If Toyota brought back the xB with the powertrain from the current Corolla Hybrid, I bet there would be a line out the door.
My son has a 2017 N Box. Base model non turbo. Bulletproof of course. By god it’s slow compared to what I’m used to but quite enough round Hamamatsu and brilliantly easy with a wife and baby to cart around. But that said it’s quite able to make 3 hour trips to family in Gifu just don’t expect it to manage much beyond 60mph/100kph
I’m really taken with the Honda N box, in many ways it reminds me of the Honda Element I owned, I especially like the sliding rear doors, as opposed to the clamshell rear doors on the Element. It would be a great vehicle for local driving, especially if it was electric.