Some farmers (and other folks) opting for old, small, cheap Japanese trucks

The Economist reports here.  An excerpt follows:  

A couple of years ago Jake Morgan, a farmer who lives just outside Raleigh, in North Carolina, realised he needed a new vehicle to get around his property. At first he was looking at “side-by-sides”—a sort of off-road utility vehicle. But watching a review on YouTube of one that costs around $30,000 made by John Deere, he saw a comment that said something like “Why don’t you just get a minitruck instead?” That is, a tiny four-wheel drive pickup truck, sometimes known as a “Kei” truck, mostly made in Japan to take advantage of laws there which tax smaller vehicles less.

Intrigued, Mr Morgan started researching. Within a few months, he drove to Newport, Virginia to pick up a 1997 Honda Acty, having spent a total of just $2,000 on importing it. He was delighted. ... The Acty is less than five feet wide, and so can get into tight spaces a normal pickup cannot, like Mr Morgan’s barn.  And unlike a side-by-side, it can also be driven legally on local roads. 

The story quotes Todd Gatto, an owner of hvny Imports of Goshen, New York, which has sold more than 300 of these to local businesses in the recent past.  

We bought five of them to start, and we sold them all within seven days.

Another benefit of the Kei trucks:  They don't have onboard computers and proprietary parts that make repairs more expensive and complicated, an issue that has attracted attention recently from lawmakers like Senator Jon Tester of Montana and Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez of southwest Washington state.  

I like how this flies in the face of the image of the farmer as loving gas-guzzling, massive pick up trucks.