Toyota to launch tiny trucks in US markets

ملخص مفصل

Imagine a pickup truck, but much smaller, lighter and lacking any frills. It’s a vehicle that people in Japan have been using for decades. And ...

Imagine a pickup truck, but much smaller, lighter and lacking any frills. It’s a vehicle that people in Japan have been using for decades. And now Toyota wants to sell one in the United States.

This week, the automaker introduced a tiny pickup truck inspired by Japanese “Kei” trucks, under the Scion brand that Toyota shuttered in 2016. The vehicle, the Scion KEI-01, will go on sale next year.

Kei vehicles (pronounced like the letter “K”) are a distinct category of small cars, vans and trucks in Japan and other Asian countries. These vehicles have long had a cult following in the United States. Even President Donald Trump showed adoration, calling them “really cute” and “sort of like the Beetle used to be.” He made the remarks last year after a visit to Japan and mused about finding a way to have them sold in the United States.

But buying and using one of these vehicles in the United States is not easy. Car buffs who want Kei cars and trucks typically import vehicles that are at least 25 years old from Japan to take advantage of a provision in U.S. law that exempts older vehicles from federal safety and emissions standards.

Toyota says the KEI-01 will be assembled in Indiana and will qualify as a “low speed vehicle” under federal regulations. Vehicles in that category must have a top speed of 25 mph and are generally forbidden from roads with speed limits of more than 35 mph. Such vehicles also do not have to meet the same safety and other standards as regular cars.

The KEI-01 is in many ways the opposite of traditional U.S. pickup trucks like the Ford F-150 or Chevrolet Silverado, which over the past several decades have become bigger, heavier and more expensive. Most automakers have found that it is much easier to make a profit on larger vehicles because they tend not to cost much more to make than smaller ones but can be sold for a lot more money.

While Toyota has not said how much the new trucks will sell for, it is likely to be much cheaper than a new F-150, which…

“I’…

مطلع المقال، مقتطف من Oman Observer. لقراءة المقال كاملًا، افتحه على موقع الناشر.