Toyota is bringing back the Scion name, and the Scion KEI-01 is the first vehicle to wear it. It is a tiny utility truck with a 660cc three-cylinder engine. Toyota will build it in Indiana, and it arrives in the United States in the second half of 2027.
Toyota Motor North America introduced the new brand, called Scion by Toyota, at two events held at the same time. One took place in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan. The other ran in Frisco, Texas. Then the company laid out the details in a release dated November 10.
The return comes a decade after Toyota retired the original Scion in 2016. This time, however, the first product is not a car at all. Instead, it is a small work truck aimed at farms, campuses and service crews.
What the Scion KEI-01 is
Toyota calls the KEI-01 an ultra-compact utility truck. According to Toyota’s launch release, it measures just over 11 feet long and under 5 feet wide. Power comes from a 660cc three-cylinder engine. A continuously variable transmission sends it to the wheels.
Selectable four-wheel drive is standard. It has an auto mode, plus a push-button lock for slippery ground. The bed folds down on three sides, so you can load it from a lower height. Toyota rates the payload at up to 600 pounds. It also says the structure is stiff enough to tow small trailers.
Inside, an extended cab with a raised roofline holds seats that recline and slide. There is storage in the cabin, too. Unlike a bare-bones utility vehicle, the cab is fully enclosed, and it comes with both heat and air conditioning.
The truck uses right-hand drive. Toyota designed it to meet FMVSS No. 500, the federal safety standard for low-speed vehicles. That matters for anyone thinking of buying one, because low-speed vehicle rules decide where a truck like this can be driven. So fleet buyers will want to check their local rules first.
Built in Indiana, sold to fleets first
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana will assemble the KEI-01, starting in the second half of 2027. Toyota is putting $34 million into the work. As a result, it expects to add about 50 jobs at the plant.
Sales will start small on purpose. Toyota describes an intentionally low-volume pilot focused on fleets. Selected dealers from the existing Toyota network will run it as Scion by Toyota dealers. Later, Toyota may consider limited retail sales, but it has not committed to them.
The target customers are specific. Toyota names small business owners, farmers and ranchers, municipalities and campuses, delivery and service providers, and outdoor enthusiasts. In other words, the first owners will be people who need a small truck for daily jobs.
Two concepts hint at what comes next
The KEI-01 did not appear alone. Toyota also showed two concepts under the new badge. The first, the SxS Concept, made its debut at the 2025 SEMA Show. It uses a turbocharged four-cylinder hybrid with more than 300 horsepower. It also has a Silent Mode for running on electric power.
The second is the BKE Concept, a compact personal-mobility design built around utility and adventure. Toyota gave the pair two themes: “Beyond Limits” for the SxS and “Beyond Permission” for the BKE. Neither concept has a production date.
Simon Humphries is chief branding officer and head of design at Toyota Motor Corporation. He framed the launch in broad terms. “The future of mobility will not be defined by one vehicle, one technology or one way of thinking,” he said.
What happened to the original Scion
Toyota first launched Scion in 2003 with the xB and the xA. That year, the brand sold 10,898 cars, according to Repairer Driven News’s report on the shutdown. Sales then climbed quickly and peaked at 173,034 units in 2006.
After that, the numbers slid. By 2015, Scion sales had dropped to 56,167. So in February 2016, Toyota announced the end of the brand. Most models became Toyotas after the 2016 model year, with the switch starting that August.
For example, the FR-S, iA and iM carried on with Toyota badges for 2017. The C-HR concept also became a Toyota. The tC coupe, by contrast, did not carry over. At the time, Toyota had 1,004 Scion dealers. Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz called the change “a leap forward for Toyota.”
Where the Scion name goes from here
The new Scion keeps one idea from the old one: a separate badge for trying something different. Yet the product could hardly be further from the xB and xA that opened the brand in 2003. This time, the lineup starts with a work truck.
Toyota has a large base behind it. The company says it has been in the U.S. for nearly 70 years. It counts nearly 1,500 dealerships, about 48,000 U.S. employees and 11 U.S. manufacturing plants. Production of the Scion KEI-01 starts at one of those plants, in Indiana, in the second half of 2027.
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