// THE VERGE — MOBILE & WEB
Toyota’s Scion is back, starting with an American-made, 25-mph kei truck
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Toyota is reviving the Scion badge as an experimental mobility incubator—starting with an Indiana-built, 25-mph kei truck engineered for American fleets.
Toyota is reviving the Scion badge as an experimental mobility incubator—starting with an Indiana-built, 25-mph kei truck engineered for American fleets.
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Toyota is dusting off the Scion badge for a radically different mission. Rather than targeting youth-market hatchbacks, “Scion by Toyota” is being positioned as an experimental mobility incubator — and its first vehicle is an authentic Japanese-style kei truck built in Indiana.
Kei vehicles, which are built to satisfy Japan’s light vehicle regulations, are enjoying surging popularity around the world, including here in the US. More than 30,000 used kei trucks have been imported into the US since 2020, with roughly 7,500 units entering the country each year. Even President Trump is a fan, telling reporters last year that he authorized the Department of Transportation to approve their production.
Toyota looks to be the first to test the American market’s appetite for the tiny trucks. The choice to use the Scion brand, which was discontinued in 2016, would seem to indicate that the automaker is hoping to appeal to younger car buyers. But more than that, Toyota says it sees Scion as a testing ground for utility, outdoor adventure, and customization that wouldn’t typically fit in any of its other models.