Electric Kei Cars Likely To Be A Growing Product Segment in Japan Due To Increased Awareness Towards Environment Protection, Says Frost & Sullivan

Electric Kei Cars Likely To Be A Growing Product Segment in Japan Due To Increased Awareness Towards Environment Protection, Says Frost & Sullivan PR Newswire TOKYO, Dec. 28, 2012 TOKYO, Dec. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Automakers in Japan are working towards the electrification of Kei Cars as a market for future expansion due to the increased awareness and orientation towards environment protection, says Frost & Sullivan. Mr. Vijayendra R Rao, Research Manager, Automotive & Transportation Practice, Asia Pacific at Frost & Sullivan said that leading Kei Car OEMs such as Suzuki, Daihatsu and Mitsubishi are developing and testing electric Kei Cars for the future. "With the increased awareness and orientation towards environment protection along with the positive response to the Mitsubishi i-MiEV Electric Kei Car, electric microcars are projected to be a growing product segment," he added. New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.automotive.frost.com) Strategic Analysis of the Microcars Market in Japan finds that the microcars market in Japan is expected to grow marginally at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.1 per cent to 1.75 million units in 2018 from 1.73 million in 2010 for the 2010-2018 period. Mr. Rao also said that the Kei Car market in Japan has reached the maturity stage of the development graph as nearly one-third of all the new cars sold in Japan are Kei Cars. "More than 50 per cent of the cars on Japan's roads are Kei Cars," he added.