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Demise of kei cars on the horizon?

The kei car has long been a staple of the Japanese automobile industry and its car culture. Too diminutive for Western markets, the tiny cars and trucks are a strong influencer of design in Japan. Now, as The New York Times reports, the Japanese government has hit kei cars with increases in sales tax, gasoline prices and has reduced the kei car tax break introduced to make the cars popular in the first place by 50 percent.

EU new car CO2 targets pushed back

The European Union’s plans to cap new cars to 95g/km CO2 by 2020 has been delayed, after months of lobbying led by Germany. Instead, the 95g/km target will be introduced a year later in 2021, but with an additional amount of flexibility intended to make the transition easier – especially for luxury carmakers such as BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which generally build bigger, heavier vehicles. Stricter CO2 rules will save drivers cash Top 10 most economical cars The new compromise, agreed on Tuesday (26 November 2013) and set to be presented to EU diplomats on Friday (29 November 2013), changes the rules on ‘supercredits’ – which allow manufacturers claim extra credit for especially low emissions cars, such as all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Toyota and Tesla strike $50m electric car deal

Toyota has bought a $50m chunk of Tesla By Tim Pollard Motor Industry 21 May 2010 09:15 Toyota today agreed to buy a $50 million stake in Tesla Motors, the Californian electric car start-up. The two companies plan to cooperate on electric vehicles, batteries and other EV technology. But Tesla's tiny!