BYD’s bold new kei car for the Japanese market has taken over 1,000 orders in its first two weeks on sale according to the latest reports. 

Japan is a notoriously difficult market to launch an imported foreign car into, not to mention one that fits into the country’s iconic kei category of tiny city car. 

The diminutive BYD Racco has gone sale in the country starting from just £9,600 for the entry level model with a 22.4kWh battery that manages 130 miles of range, though it seems that the majority of buyers are going for the range topping £11,500 version with a 35.8kWh battery that manages an impressive 199 miles. 

The car is well on the way to meeting BYD’s target of 10,000 sales by the end of 2026, though that figure leaves the car well short of cracking Japan’s top 10 minicar sales list – the Daihatsu Mira was the 10th bestselling kei car in 2025 with over 55,700 sales, while Japan’s top minicar is the Honda N-Box with over 201,000 sales. 

But wait, that’s looking at petrol models – what was Japan’s biggest selling electric kei car in 2025? Well that was the Nissan Sakura, which shifted just under 15,000 units. 

Suddenly the Racco’s job looks a little easier – and it beats the Sakura on range (112 miles) even in its cheapest version, which could explain why buyers are looking so enthusiastically at the Chinese insurgent model. 

According to reports from Japan the majority of sales of the Racco have been as a second car for households, but more than a quarter of buyers are first time car purchasers, which suggests the BYD is appealing to a wider demographic than usual brands in the region. 

It's not likely that we'll see the Racco coming to UK roads, but the European Union is in the process of developing a new kei car-style small electric car format that can be introduced to the region.