While China's EV market races toward ever-bigger screens and ever-smarter driving aids, a small Texas startup is betting on the opposite: a bare-bones, gasoline-powered pickup with no touchscreen, no subscriptions, and a price tag that undercuts nearly everything on the road. REO Trucks, which has revived a century-old American brand, says it has already collected more than 32,500 paid reservations for its retro-styled Runabout series, according to NetEase Auto.
A century-old name with supercar pedigree
REO traces its roots to Ransom E. Olds, the pioneer who founded Oldsmobile and built America's first mass-produced car in 1901. In 1904 he launched REO, whose 1915 Speed Wagon is widely considered the ancestor of the modern pickup. The original company went bankrupt in 1975, but CEO Zach De Bernardi bought the dormant trademark and relaunched the brand in Texas.
To design the new Runabout series, REO hired Frank Stephenson, the stylist behind the original BMW X5, the modern MINI, the Maserati MC12, the Ferrari F430, and the McLaren P1. Stephenson said designing a low-cost, modular, repairable workhorse was a tougher challenge than styling a million-dollar hypercar, and the teaser images show a deliberately simple, muscular shape with four round tail-lights.
Mechanical simplicity, no subscriptions
The Runabout lineup sits on a body-on-frame platform and includes the T4X single-cab work truck, the T4C double-cab family pickup, and the S4C hardcore SUV. REO has rejected BEV (battery-electric) and hybrid powertrains outright, instead fitting a naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine with a purely mechanical four-wheel-drive system. The company claims the drivetrain is designed to last 500,000 miles (about 800,000 km) and can cover nearly 1,000 km on a single tank.
Inside, REO promises physical switches, chunky buttons, analogue gauges, and even the classic 'crotch vent' from old trucks. The only small screen supports Apple CarPlay. The company's website states: 'No subscriptions. No feature locks. Ever.' Body panels are modular and can be removed with ordinary household tools, so minor dents can be fixed in a home garage.
The Runabout starts at $21,500 (about 152,650 yuan), a Chinese guide price before taxes and incentives. Despite the vehicle still being in the design phase, REO has taken more than 32,500 paid blind orders. A digital reveal is planned for late 2026, with first deliveries expected in late 2028 or 2029.
REO's anti-EV, anti-subscription stance stands in sharp contrast to the Chinese market, where software-defined vehicles and monthly fees are becoming the norm. Whether the nostalgia play can translate into real production remains to be seen, but the brand has already tapped into a vocal audience of drivers who miss the days when a wrench and a bit of know-how were all you needed.
