Toyota bets America is ready for a tiny, slow, low-cost kei truck

The kei truck is coming to the US.

Kei vehicles (short for "keijidosha," approximately translated to "light car") are extremely famous and cheap in Japan. The average cost for a kei car is typically between $6,000 and $11,000.

On Tuesday, Toyota announced plans to collect a small pickup, the Kei-01, at its Indiana factory in the second fractional of 2027. It volition revive Toyota's low-cost Scion brand, which the automaker discontinued in 2016, and volition initially be reserved for business fleets.

The Kei-01 is extremely distinct from the remainder of America's car market. It's nearly 4 feet shorter than a Corolla, gets a motorcycle-sized three-cylinder engine, tops out at 25 mph, and has a steering rotor on the correct side.

More importantly, Toyota is joining a caller set of bets that Americans desire cheaper, smaller alternatives to today's big and costly pickup trucks.

In October, the average transaction cost for a new conveyance rosy to $51,109, per Kelley Blue Book analysis. That's a document high.

Pickup trucks were the most costly category, alongside an average cost of $67,912.

America's list for low-cost car options has been quickly vanishing from car dealership lots. Several sub-$25,000 options — the Mitsubishi Mirage, Nissan Versa, Kia Soul among them — have been discontinued since the end of 2024. Just five new-vehicle models now have an average transaction cost below $25,000, according to Cox Automotive.

For years, Americans who wanted a kei truck have mostly had to buy old ones. Federal rules authorize conveyance imports — equal if they don't encounter US safety standards — if the car is at smallest 25 years old. That has created a small but devoted market of car enthusiasts who are looking for their own keis.

And now, Toyota is the archetypal business to province plans to build its small truck in the US. The automaker stated its truck volition have updated safety features, including contemporary seatbelts, and stated it's eligible to run in all 50 states.

The Kei-01 volition be according to the Daihatsu Hijet Jumbo, which sells in Japan for about $9,000. While the business called its US-bound Kei-01 "affordable" in the media release, it hasn't released pricing figures for the American market.

The scheme volition apt drag on President Donald Trump's heartstrings.

After a 2025 trip to Japan, he has stated multiple times that he wanted companies to commencement construction them in the US.

"I have fair approved TINY CARS to be built in America," he wrote on Truth Social in December 2025. "These cars of the extremely near forthcoming are inexpensive, safe, energy productive and, fairly simply, AMAZING!!! START BUILDING THEM NOW!"

While Toyota is the lone car business alongside tangible US kei truck plans, it's not solitary in betting that there is an beginning below the increasingly gargantuan full-size pickup. Ford plans to build its sub-$30,000 Fathom EV, during Slate Auto and Telo are evolving approximately Mini Cooper-sized electric pickups for the US market.