Scion FR-S Sales Disappoint Toyota - Can A Boring Brand Successfully Sell A Sporty Car?

It's a good car but it's BORING to look at and is saddled with the Japanese Super Beetle engine when a Toyota engine would be smoother. The FRS does not have enough power either.

it's a great concept that came up a bit short mostly due to the power being inadequate. A little more juice would have gone a long way. should have had two power levels

First of all, there's a serious problem with this quote:
“A faster version of that car would be at the top of most people’s wish lists, but like the cabriolet, it is hard to justify a business case to push either model into production based on the current sales.”

If a faster version is on top of people's wish lists, why not build it in order to boost current sales? It's just big fat contradiction.

Secondly, in addition to being a victim of a lack of power and exaggerated hype, it's also a victim of alot of UGLY, both inside and out.

The real issue is there is a limited market for sports cars. It wasn't long ago many manufacturers dropped this segment, at least in the US (Celica, Camaro, etc). Recently everyone has reintroduced models and the market is saturated. Even Mustang and Camaro are relatively low sales (~80k/yr). Toyota partnered with Subaru knowing this would low production model. So even though this model was recognized across the world as the best in class, the market is only so big. The question is will they go forward with a 4 door, and not loose the magic this model realized.

Styling way off mark and underpowered. Other reason is Toyota mind set is on moving units in big volume not creating excitment (better looks, single mark racing series, enter 24 hours of Daytona, motor cross event series, a new version every nine months (like Porsche) to create excitment (GTS, speedster, targa,R versions, etc), back it up with large aftermarket raccing and personalization parts, etc. The difference between Toyota and successful sports car manufacturers is the difference between a bacon and eggs breakfast...the chicken was involved but the pig was committed to making your breakfast a success. In for a penny in for a pound Toyota or pack it in.

I totally agree with cidflekken's comment - many people (and even car reviews) have expressed the lack of power as a drawback, so for Toyota to say that there is no justification for adding more power doesn't make very much sense. This car has the looks of a sports car but not the HP, that's the problem. And 2.0T engines are very common these days, so I don't believe it when they say it would be too costly. As far as a convertible, skip that, too niche to really have an impact on sales.

A 0-60 time in the mid 6 second range does not signify a slow car.I agree with MREE.There is a lot of competition in the sports coupe market now between 20 and 30 grand. In addition Scion is also providing
competion to the FRS with it's FWD coupe. Their FWD coupe offers better rear seating, similar quality interior materials and a 4 grand lower price point.I think it would have been smarter for Toyota to market this as the Celica rather than a Scion.I also think interior styling and quality are a bit lacking for a 25 to 30 grand sport coupe. A GTI has a much nicer qulity interior as does the cheaper Honda Civic Si now.Neither of those cars have a significant performance advantage over the Scion.A Fiat Abarth or a Mini Cooper S might have a slight performance advantage in day to day driving but not much. Further they don't offer the RWD handling. However their engines certainly sound better than the Subaru Mill. I really think it's more of a marketing problem than engine deficiency. Sure a Subaru WRX, Camaro,Mustang and Hyundai Genesis Coupe have better straight line performance but do not
have the handling of the Scion. Scion is simply not a very strong brand compared to all of the marquees I've mentioned. I've seen pictures of a 4dr floating around. It might almost be a better bet to market this platform as a 4 DR because it would only have the WRX as a competator as opposed to 7 or 8 vehicles.