Toyota bets on Indiana-built micro trucks, $34 million line revives Scion brand around 660-cc KEI-01, buyers wanting cheap vehicles get a rebadged Daihatsu workhorse

Images

zerohedge.com

Toyota will begin building an ultra-compact utility truck at its plant in Princeton, Indiana, the company announced Tuesday, investing $34 million in a new production line that adds roughly 50 jobs when it starts in the second half of 2027. The truck, badged KEI-01, will be the first product of the revived "Scion by Toyota" brand.

The KEI-01 is a rebadged Daihatsu Hijet Jumbo, powered by a 660-cc three-cylinder engine — a displacement more commonly found in motorcycles on American roads — and built to meet US standards for low-speed vehicles. Toyota's list of intended buyers runs from small business owners wanting an affordable urban commercial vehicle and farmers needing a dependable workhorse to municipalities, universities, corporate campuses and delivery operators running fleets. Initial sales will go through a fleet-focused trial program, with retail availability to be considered at a later date based on market conditions, customer demand and operational considerations.

Japanese mini trucks have been popular with American buyers for years, precisely because they offer the opposite of the showroom mainstream: an inexpensive, compact vehicle without many extra features, and one that is relatively cheap to service. Toyota is now moving to build that package domestically. Alongside the truck it unveiled two concepts, an all-terrain vehicle called the SxS and a two-wheeled electric scooter known as the BKE, aimed at the same end of the market.

The affordability squeeze is producing parallel answers elsewhere. Slate Auto, a Michigan EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos' family office, is developing a modular electric pickup whose explicit pitch is the absence of expensive, complicated electronics — the parts that have driven up repair bills. Slate is betting buyers want a truck without the electronics; Toyota is betting they want one without the size, the features and, at 660 cc, most of the engine.