Toyota is betting that a relatively small truck will appeal to some American drivers. The automaker will revive its discontinued Scion brand next year to sell the Scion Kei-01, a small pickup modeled after Japan’s Kei trucks and classified here as a “low-speed vehicle,” Road and Track reports. The truck is limited to 25 mph and largely banned from faster roads. Planned to be built in Indiana with right-hand drive and a three-cylinder engine, the vehicle is aimed at businesses, farms, campuses and hobbyists (not commuters) and has the potential to compete with full-size pickup trucks that now start well north of $40,000, according to the New York Times. Pricing will be announced closer to the US launch.
Measuring about 11 feet long, the truck is smaller than a Mini Cooper but can carry up to 600 pounds in a three-way folding bed and features an extended cab and a raised roofline. The move puts Toyota in a growing niche of cheaper small utility vehicles, which includes Fiat’s Topolino and upcoming electric trucks from Slate, TELO and Ford. Toyota says it’s responding to America’s growing curiosity about Kei trucks. Even President Trump called them “really cute” after a visit to Japan and compared them to the classic Beetle.
Gn bussni
