(NewsNation) — President Donald Trump is calling for “tiny cars” similar to those popular in Asia to be built in America.
The president became enamored with the pint-sized cars after his recent visit to Japan and said on a Truth Social post the cars are “inexpensive, safe, fuel-efficient and amazing.”
But there could be hurdles getting those vehicles on U.S. roads.
The smallest vehicle currently street-legal in the U.S. is the Fiat 500, which is just under 12 feet long. The maximum length on those Japanese Kei cars is 11 feet.
At an announcement on resetting fuel standards in order to target vehicle affordability, Trump spoke of his approval for the cars.
“They’re very small, they’re really cute. And I said, how would that do in this country?” Trump said. “And everyone seems to think good, but you’re not allowed to build them, and I’ve authorized the [Transportation] Secretary to immediately approve the production of those cars.”
While tiny cars are more affordable than regular American cars, they have low-powered engines and they’re not generally suitable for long drives.
Tiny cars imported to the U.S. are restricted to low speeds on private land in some states; in other states, they are banned completely.
The main concern is that they’re just too small and slow to safely drive among big American cars, and that they don’t meet safety standards for potential crashes.
It’s unclear at this point if there are new standards to allow these cars on the road, but Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has said that while tiny cars may not work on freeways due to speed limitations, they could be a good, affordable option on city streets.
The average cost of a new car in America has now topped $50,000, while the Fiat 500, fully loaded, tops out around $37,000.
It’s also unclear whether U.S. auto manufacturers are going to want to build tiny cars. Industry experts are saying that American automakers may lean toward the higher profitability of SUVs and pickups, which many American consumers prefer.
The smallest cars currently offered in the U.S. by the Big Three are minivans and compact SUVs.
Chevrolet used to produce the Spark, which was the same size as the Fiat 500, but they gave up on that model three years ago.