Scion brand killed off by Toyota

Turns out, maybe driving the same auto as Dad isn’t so bad: Toyota announced today that it is eliminating Scion, the brand it established in 2003 to attract younger buyers who considered Toyotas too stodgy. The company also added that Scion’s team members would have the opportunity to take on new jobs at Toyota Motor Sales US. Half of the 1 million Scions sold were bought by people under 35, the company said.

Despite troubles in recent years, the announcement came as a shock since the brand introduced two new models for 2016, the iA Sedan and iM Hatchback. Its tC sports coupe will end production in August. All are already Toyota dealers, which will continue to provide service to Scion owners. The decision to call off this young brand may not be a happy news for those in love with this brand.

The automaker sold 715 Scion tCs, a drop of 41 percent from a year ago; Scion FR-S sales totaled 507, a decline of 32 percent. After all, most Scions were just mildly rebadged Toyotas to begin with, so not much is actually changing – aside from the sign outside the dealer. Scion’s best-seller, the tC coupe, starts at $21,330, or $2,600 more than a Honda Civic.

And the brand again seemed to be mounting a combeback with last summer’s launch of two new models, the Mazda2-based iA subcompact and iM compact hatchback, the latter a USA version of the highly regarded Toyota Avensis sold in Europe. If Scion had been allowed to carry on, building out its lineup with a few more similarly funky cars, it could have become so much more than the lineup we have today.

Edmunds says: It was a noble experiment, but it’s time for Toyota to move on. Scion regional representatives will assume different responsibilities in their respective Toyota sales offices. The addition of Scion vehicles to the Toyota lineup will advance the brand’s broad portfolio of vehicles that meet the versatile needs of Canadian customers.

It’s official: The Scion brand is no more.

Toyota has chose to ditch their Scion sub-brand and roll the Scion models back into the Toyota fold. Previous year the entire Scion brand sold only 56,167 cars.

It’s curtains on the youth-targeted Scion brand after 13 years.

That being said, Toyota’s line of vehicles have evolved to touting better handling and style that appeal to young drivers, perhaps creating less of a need for Scion in the crowded automotive space.