Toyota revives Scion to bring Kei-01 kei truck to the US – 660 cc, CVT, AWD, limited to 40 km/h

Scion is back, but not as you know it. Toyota’s newer, cooler US sub-brand was introduced in 2003 and offered cars like the boxy xB and the tC coupé, and was instrumental in bringing younger buyers into the fold. But despite also selling the 86-based FR-S, it slowly became irrelevant as the main marque itself became stronger, and it was discontinued in 2016.

Ten years later, Toyota is putting Scion (technically Scion by Toyota) back on the market, and its approach may be even bolder than its original vision – a “freedom lab” to bring new ideas into fruition. To that end, the world’s largest carmaker is doing something no other Japanese brand has done before: bring a brand-new kei car to North America.

Specifically, it’s the Scion Kei-01, a rebadged version of the Daihatsu Hijet Truck and Toyota Pixis Truck that are obviously sold in Japan. The company must have seen the rise of cute privately-imported kei trucks over 25 years old (to satisfy the US’ draconian grey import regulations) and thought it would be a great idea to sell a new truck to those people.

But hang on, wouldn’t the Kei-01 need to pass the country’s stringent Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) that such a tiny car would surely fail? Well, it doesn’t, because Toyota is exploiting a loophole, the FMVSS No. 500 that governs low-speed vehicles, and such a car would only need lights, indicators, a windscreen and seat belts to be allowed on the road.

Of course, because the Kei-01 is fully legalised for Japan, it has rather more than that, including dual airbags, stability control and even driver assists such as autonomous emergency braking, lane keeping assist and pedal misapplication control. However, being a low-speed vehicle, its top speed is capped at just 40 km/h, although that’s nothing the removal of the electronic limiter wouldn’t fix.

The Kei-01 will even be built at Toyota’s Indiana plant, with sales due to start in the second half of 2027. Despite this, it’s clear that the company has done the bare minimum to federalise the truck – it’s still right-hand drive, doesn’t appear to have a reverse camera and even has its speedometer in km/h rather than mph, although it does at least have a touchscreen.

Under the bonnet…I mean, the front seats, sits the usual 660 cc three-cylinder petrol engine. Unusually, it’s naturally aspirated, which means can’t even reach the kei car standard’s dizzying max of 64 PS, only able to muster 46 PS and 60 Nm of torque. Even so, it’s fully kitted with a CVT and even all-wheel drive.

As you can expect, Toyota didn’t do this on a whim. Late last year, the idea of bringing small cars to America was pushed by none other that US president Donald Trump, who had seen city cars during his tour of Japan, South Korea and Malaysia.

He said that such vehicles were not authorised to be built in the US and instructed secretary of transportation Sean Duffy to clear regulations to pave way for them. Even though FMVSS No. 500 had already existed back then, it appears that only Toyota has had the gumption (and the industrial might, I might add) to actually make a kei car in the US.

But the Kei-01 is just the start of Scion’s return as a mobility-focused brand – Toyota also exhibited the SxS Concept side-by-side (essentially a super-sized ATV with seating for four) powered by turbo four-cylinder hybrid engine, as well as the BKE Concept scooter. Only the truck has been approved for production, however.

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