Scion Returns With the Kei-01, a Tiny Kei-Style Pickup

Toyota Revives the Scion Brand With a Low-Speed Kei Truck

Toyota has brought back the Scion name, about a decade after the youth brand was closed, with a small kei-style pickup called the Scion by Toyota Kei-01. The four-wheel-drive truck has a 660 cc three-cylinder engine and a top speed of 40 km/h (25 mph), and it will be built in Indiana from 2027, Carscoops reported on 10 November.

Key takeaways

The Kei-01 is a low-speed vehicle, so it cannot be driven on highways.

About 3.35 m (11 ft) long and just under 1.5 m (5 ft) wide, with a 272 kg (600 lb) payload.

660 cc three-cylinder petrol engine, CVT and selectable four-wheel drive.

Production starts in Indiana in 2027, initially for fleet customers only.

What the Kei-01 is

The Kei-01 follows the recipe of Japan's kei trucks, the tiny pickups built to the country's 660 cc engine limit, and adapts it for American work sites. It is right-hand drive, like the Japanese originals, and has heating and air conditioning. The bed has three folding side rails, so it can be used either as a conventional pickup bed or as a flat deck. Toyota says the truck can handle small trailers, although no towing rating has been published yet.

Toyota has given no power or torque figures for the three-cylinder engine. Drive goes to all four wheels through a CVT, and a push-button lock is included; Toyota has not said whether it locks one axle or both. The company aims to certify the Kei-01 under FMVSS 500, the US federal standard for low-speed vehicles, which explains the 40 km/h speed limit and the ban from highways.

Who can buy it

Sales will start with fleets only. Toyota is targeting small businesses, farms and ranches, municipalities, corporate campuses and universities. Private buyers will not be able to order one at launch, and no price has been announced. Production will be deliberately small: Toyota plans to hire about 50 workers for the Indiana line.

Why Scion is back

The brand that sold boxy cars such as the Scion xB to younger American buyers was discontinued for the 2017 model year. The new "Scion by Toyota" label is being used for small, unusual products rather than mainstream cars. Besides the Kei-01, it already covers the SxS Concept, a four-seat off-road side-by-side shown at the 2025 SEMA Show, and the BKE Concept, a personal mobility device that Carscoops compared to Honda's Motocompacto folding scooter. The full background is in the history of Scion.

What it means for buyers

For most drivers, the Kei-01 is a curiosity, since it is restricted to low-speed roads and sold only to fleets. It matters more as a test of whether a new, factory-built kei truck has a market in the US, where Toyota is keeping volumes low on purpose. The rest of the Toyota line-up, from the Hilux to the Land Cruiser, is in the Toyota catalogue.