AFP | Tokyo

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Chinese giant BYD launched an electric "kei" car in Japan with an ad campaign featuring a top actor, taking on local rivals whose own pint-sized vehicles rule the road.

Ideal for Japan's often narrow roads, the super-compact category of cars up to 1.4 metres (4.9 feet) wide and 3.4 metres long accounts for some 40 percent of new vehicle sales there.

BYD said the Racco is the first "kei" car launched in Japan by an overseas automaker.

The car has a height of 180 centimetres and is priced from 2.1 million yen ($12,830).

"Kei" cars -- "kei-jidosha" ("light vehicle") in Japanese -- have a cult following. Admirers include US President Donald Trump, who told US firms in December to "START BUILDING THEM NOW!"