Source: REO IndustriesSource: REO IndustriesWith the cost of living a perpetual motion device constantly adding financial insult to injury for the masses, the next frontier for automotive smash hits isn't one founded in luxury; rather, it's a race to the bottom. With the success of the Ford Maverick and Slate Auto snagging over 150,000 reservations, it was only a matter of time before another company threw its hat into the ring. That time is kicking off, and the brand planting the flag is called REO Industries.Source: REO IndustriesSource: REO IndustriesAdvertisementAdvertisementIf your first thought when you hear "REO" is of the classic rock band, you're not alone. And that's no coincidence; the band's name was a derivative of the truck built by ex-Oldsmobile founder Ransom Eli Olds (hence the R.E.O.). It's also no coincidence that startup REO Industries uses this moniker as its own, as the original Speed Wagon is famously the foundation on which the pickup truck as we know it has evolved from.With speed not really making the cut for the new brand's target price, they instead went with REO Industries. It pays homage to history while sounding modern but not straight out of a Silicon Valley focus group.And so, the REO Industries Runabout is born. The modular platform will allow three different bodies to be built on the same body-on-frame architecture: A single cab pickup (T4X), a crew cab pickup (T4C), and an SUV (S4C). They say it will have a four-cylinder gas engine with a range of over 600 miles, the options for an automatic or manual transmission, and mechanical full-time 4WD. It will be built in Texas, and the target starting price is $21,500. You can reserve yours for $25.Source: REO IndustriesSource: REO IndustriesAdvertisementAdvertisementSounds pretty great, right? REO Industries claims "The affordable American truck is coming back." We love the notion, but we need to see more evidence before taking these targets without a big grain of salt.Still, it is promising. Slate Auto set the car communities alight last year when they debuted their brand and modular electric truck-SUV combo with an at-the-time target price of under $20,000, but an EV isn't for everybody and a lot of the tax credits that allowed for such a low price of entry have since gone away. ( In fact, Slate just announced pricing today and it's closer to the $25,000 mark). This is where REO comes in.Source: REO IndustriesSource: REO IndustriesInterestingly, REO Industries is planning to sell the Runabout without any dealer network, instead going with a straight-to-consumer model. There is some aspect of this that may have to do with them calling the vehicles "Ameri-Kei," with regards paid to the class of Japanese sub-compact vehicles. This new type of thinking for an American company will likely either be its biggest strength or its greatest flaw; historically, Americans haven't gone for tiny vehicles, but with the cost of living what it is, the entry-level price point is in desperate need of attention.AdvertisementAdvertisementAll of this turning into a reality is just a big ball of hopes and dreams at this point, though the idea of the Runabouts are very appealing. We can't help but hope that the typos and errors in copy and punctuation included in the brand's big announcement post on X are a small oversight in an otherwise strong plan.Oh, and we challenge them to build a wagon version of the Runabout, and you already know what we want them to call it. Come on, REO, let's see that happen.