Toyota Revives Scion Brand to Bring an Indiana-Built Kei Mini Truck to America in 2027

Toyota is betting that a slice of American buyers wants less truck, not more. Toyota Motor North America this week introduced Scion by Toyota, a new brand that revives a name the company shelved about a decade ago, and said its first vehicle will be the KEI-01, an ultra-compact utility truck arriving in the United States in the second half of 2027 ^[1][4].

The pickup is modeled on Japan's tiny kei trucks. Toyota said it will be assembled at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana, backed by a $34 million investment in production and logistics upgrades that is expected to add about 50 jobs ^[1]. The Epoch Times reported that the plant sits near Evansville and that Toyota described the Indiana work as part of its continued commitment to American jobs ^[2].

What Toyota Is Building

Under the hood is a 660cc three-cylinder engine paired with a continuously variable transmission and standard selectable four-wheel drive, according to Toyota ^[1]. The truck is just over 11 feet long and under 5 feet wide, carries up to 600 pounds in a bed that folds down on three sides, and has an enclosed cab with heat, air conditioning and sliding, reclining seats ^[1]. Like the Japanese originals, it is right-hand drive ^[1].

The catch is speed. The KEI-01 tops out at 25 mph, and Toyota said it is designed to meet the federal safety standard for low-speed vehicles ^[1]. Gizmodo explained that those rules are less demanding than the ones ordinary cars and pickups must meet, including on crashworthiness, and that state and local laws decide where such vehicles may travel; in many states, that means roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less ^[4].

No price has been announced; Toyota says pricing will come closer to launch, Gizmodo reported ^[4]. The company is aiming the truck at small business owners who need an affordable city work vehicle, along with farmers and ranchers, municipalities, universities, corporate campuses, and delivery and service providers ^[1]. Toyota described the KEI-01 as a deliberately low-volume, niche product that will start with a fleet-focused pilot program sold through selected Toyota dealers, with limited retail sales possible later if demand warrants ^[1]. Simon Humphries, Toyota's chief branding officer, said the new brand gives the company "a place to challenge conventional thinking" ^[1].

Kei vehicles made up about a third of the 3.7 million new vehicles sold in Japan last year, while U.S. automakers build none, Hungarian Conservative reported ^[3]. The Epoch Times noted that the category caught on in the 1940s and 1950s as economical transportation for crowded Japanese cities ^[2].

A Push From the White House and a Price Problem

The plan follows a public push from President Trump. On Dec. 5, 2025, he wrote on Truth Social that he had "just approved TINY CARS to be built in America," The Epoch Times reported ^[2]. Axios reported at the time that Trump had praised Japan's small cars as cute and less expensive, and that he had instructed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to legalize them ^[5]. Hungarian Conservative noted that the president has also insisted that vehicles sold in America be assembled here ^[3], a test Toyota's Indiana plan meets.

The affordability argument is easy to grasp. As this site has reported, Kelley Blue Book found that the average new vehicle sold for a record $51,109 in October, up 2.1% from a year earlier ^[6]. Cox Automotive analyst Erin Keating cautioned that the average reflects the mix of models buyers choose as much as affordability itself ^[6].

Related The Average New Car Now Costs More Than $51,000, a Record

For ranchers, small-town contractors and campus crews, a simple work truck assembled by American workers could fill a real gap, if the still-unannounced price matches Toyota's affordable pitch ^[1][4].

Supporters, Skeptics and What Comes Next

Backers see the move as more freedom of choice for buyers. White House spokesman Kush Desai said the president is "committed to lowering costs and increasing choices for American consumers," Axios reported ^[5]. Duffy himself acknowledged that such small cars probably would not work on freeways but could suit city driving ^[5].

Skeptics point to safety and cost. Axios reported that kei cars as sold in Japan do not meet U.S. safety standards, that strengthening them could erase their price advantage, and that critics worry about how such small vehicles would fare in a collision with an American SUV ^[5]. Toyota's answer is to keep the KEI-01 in the slow lane as a low-speed vehicle rather than a highway truck ^[1][4].

Competition is arriving, too. Fiat began selling its Topolino electric runabout in the U.S. earlier this year; it is about 8 feet long, starts at $13,995 and tops out at 19 mph, Gizmodo reported ^[4].

Toyota said broader sales plans will be shared later, with Indiana assembly scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027 ^[1]. The truck is part of a larger American commitment: in March, Toyota announced $1 billion for its Indiana and Kentucky operations, part of up to $10 billion it plans to invest in the U.S. over five years, The Epoch Times reported ^[2]. The new brand also showed two concepts: the SxS, an off-road side-by-side with a hybrid powertrain rated above 300 horsepower, and the BKE, a collapsible electric bike ^[1][2].