America Is Getting a Kei Truck That’s Super Cute. But You Might Not Be Able To Drive It

The pickup truck landscape in the United States is changing drastically. While 2025 and 2026 were dominated by the Ford F-150, automakers are racing to bring us the cheapest truck they can. This includes some pretty dull contestants, like the Ford Fathom, Slate, and Scout. All of these pickup trucks are meant to be simple, basic, and cost-effective.

And I’m not gonna complain about that. The price of new vehicles keeps rising. I’m not gonna knock automakers for trying to give us some cheap options in a sea of oversized, overpriced pickups and SUVs.

But I’m not gonna say I’m excited either. Well, I wasn’t until now.

America’s own kei truck

Toyota is relaunching its Scion brand, and the first product is the KEI-01. It sounds like something that would be available in Japan, with Americans looking on in envy. Americans, including President Trump. After visiting Japan, he had this brilliant takeaway: “These cars of the very near future are inexpensive, safe, fuel efficient and, quite simply, AMAZING!!! START BUILDING THEM NOW!”

At the time, however, Trump’s dream of seeing tiny cars all over U.S. highways seemed like a far-off fantasy. U.S. regulations and tariffs made it seem almost impossible for anyone to answer Trump’s call. Who will give the president his amazing kei cars?! Please!!!!!

Looks like Toyota is answering the call. The KEI-01 will be assembled right in Princeton, Indiana. The rebranded Daihatsu Hijet Jumbo has a 660-cc engine and will weigh less than 2,000 pounds. For reference, the Ford F-150 and the GMC Sierra can weigh up to 6,000 pounds.

The question is: will the KEI-01 actually be useful for Americans?

Not really, but I don’t care

How much work can a work truck do if a work truck could weigh less than 2,000 pounds? Not much. The KEI-01 has independent front suspension, a solid rear axle, and a hydromechanical clutch that automatically shifts power between the front and rear wheels. The bed is six feet and six inches (including the area under the cab), allowing it to carry up to 600 pounds. There’s a possibility that it will offer a towing package. Then you can, I don’t know, tow a bicycle or something?

But it’s cute AF.

The KEI-01’s top speed is limited to 25 miles per hour. It’s actually this super slow speed that got the KEI-01 into the United States, since it meets the low-speed vehicle safety requirements. However, this means that it’s basically a golf cart. Like the Fiat Topolino, you can’t drive this thing on the highway. You can barely leave your neighborhood. But if you have a farm, nothing is stopping you from going back and forth on your own property over and over and over again.

And it’s adorable while doing it.

The KEI-01 is probably the cutest pickup the United States has. It also has a right-hand-drive layout, reclining eats, air conditioning, a cab-mounted reverse camera, and airbags. But it doesn’t have to meet the country’s crash-test safety standards since it’s just a small little guy that can’t leave town.

In my opinion, it does enough.

Is it truly an unfortunate catch that you can’t really drive the KEI-01 freely? Yeah, it’s a bit of a bummer. But it’s still a super cute kei truck, so I’ll take it as a win for America.

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Why does a low-speed vehicle classification skip federal crash-test standards?

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