Scion Is Back—And Toyota Is Reviving It With a Kei Truck for America

Ten years after Toyota killed Scion, the brand is coming back to America in perhaps the strangest way possible: with a tiny, right-hand-drive kei truck.

Toyota officially announced the new Scion by Toyota brand on November 10, along with its first production vehicle, the KEI-01. The miniature four-wheel-drive pickup will be assembled in Indiana beginning in the second half of 2027, giving American buyers something Toyota has never officially offered here before. There is, however, a major catch: at least initially, most Americans won’t be able to buy one.

Scion Returns With a Very Different Mission

Toyota originally launched Scion in the United States in 2003 as a youth-oriented brand built around inexpensive cars, customization and unconventional styling. Models like the boxy xB and sporty tC developed devoted followings, but sales eventually faded and Toyota discontinued Scion after the 2016 model year.

The revived Scion is different. Toyota describes Scion by Toyota as a “freedom lab”—essentially an experimental brand where the company can test vehicles and mobility ideas that might not fit neatly within Toyota’s normal lineup. The KEI-01 is the first production example, while Toyota also showed a high-powered hybrid side-by-side and a compact electric mobility concept as examples of what the new Scion could explore.

For longtime Scion fans, the philosophy does have a familiar ring. The original brand was created partly to let Toyota take chances with design and marketing. Two decades later, Scion is once again being positioned as the place where Toyota can try something unusual.

The KEI-01 Is Tiny—Even by American Compact-Truck Standards

The KEI-01 follows the basic formula that has made kei trucks popular in Japan for decades. It measures just over 11 feet long and less than five feet wide, with a 660cc three-cylinder engine, continuously variable transmission and selectable four-wheel drive. It remains right-hand drive and has a maximum payload of about 600 pounds. Its cargo bed features three folding sides to make loading easier.

Toyota plans to assemble the trucks at its Princeton, Indiana, plant following a $34 million investment that will add roughly 50 jobs. The company says likely users include farms, ranches, small businesses, delivery operations, municipalities, universities and large corporate campuses.

There is one specification that separates the KEI-01 from nearly every conventional pickup on the American market: its top speed is only 25 mph. Toyota designed the truck to meet federal Low-Speed Vehicle requirements rather than the safety standards governing normal passenger cars and trucks. That makes it more comparable to an exceptionally useful utility vehicle than a miniature Tacoma.

The Catch: You Probably Can’t Buy One Yet

When production begins in the second half of 2027, Toyota plans to offer the KEI-01 through a limited fleet-focused pilot program. A small number of existing Toyota dealerships will become authorized Scion by Toyota dealers, but initial customers will primarily be commercial and institutional fleets rather than individual consumers. Toyota says limited retail sales could follow depending on demand and what it learns from the pilot program. Pricing has not yet been announced.

If Scion eventually opens the KEI-01 to ordinary buyers, it could arrive just as America’s tiny-truck market becomes unexpectedly crowded. Slate is preparing its stripped-down electric pickup, currently advertised from $24,950, while the revived REO brand is developing its gas-powered Runabout T4X with a targeted starting price of $21,500 and first deliveries planned for late 2028 or 2029. None is a direct equivalent—the Scion is dramatically smaller and limited to low-speed use—but together they suggest automakers and startups are betting that at least some Americans are tired of pickups becoming larger, heavier and more expensive.

The KEI-01 therefore represents something unusual in the modern American truck market. Toyota isn’t trying to make another compact pickup slightly smaller than a Tacoma. It is bringing the actual kei-truck concept to the United States, building it here, and resurrecting one of its most unusual brands to do it. For now, the new Scion is a fleet experiment limited to 25 mph. But if Americans respond the way Toyota hopes, the KEI-01 could become the first official step toward something enthusiasts have wanted for years: a genuinely tiny new truck sold in America.