There are products that people like, products that people really enjoy, and there are products that owners evangelize. I'm not certain what pushes some goods over that final threshold — these things are in existing categories, the shortcomings are often as apparent as the strengths, etc. — but there's a certain je ne sais quoi that all the evangelized products have. In the US, the kei truck has that level of appreciation.
I work in marketing. It happens when a product aligns strongly with users' personal values and fosters an emotional bond with it. It becomes more than a practical solution, it’s part of the user’s identity and thus intertwines with their subjective feelings. That can lead to the formation of a community where users feel part of an exclusive club or a movement.
i think, at least in the US, there's the one-two punch of a full-size truck near-hegemony (blah blah, chicken tax, CAFE, etc, whatever) and that full-size trucks have gradually taken on a symbolic identifier of status, wealth, political affiliation, and what one might or might not value
your comment, to me, is the thing i picture happening to the oakley-clad calvin-peeing-on-something-sticker-having full size truck driver forming an emotional bond with their F-150 Tremor
and i'm not saying this same dynamic is not at work with people who buy Kei trucks, but rather it feels like there is some in-group out-group dynamics of classic truck ownership and what it can signify that might be accelerating the same identity or emotional interest in small trucks
