NEW YORK AUTO SHOW: Scion Ponders Scrapping Over Half Of Lineup - May Go Upscale

Toyota Motor Corp.’s Scion, struggling to boost sales with aged products, plans to replace three of its five U.S. nameplates over a two-year period starting in 2015.

The first of the three will be unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November, Scion Vice President Doug Murtha said in an interview today.

Murtha declined to describe the category or segment of the vehicles, but hinted at a possible direction: “From a segment context, Scion has always been about entry compact and subcompact, and that will remain our center of gravity,” he said.

“Would we be interested in other body styles? The answer is always yes. We may mix things up a bit as we find a new direction for the brand.”

Both the xB and xD hatchbacks are seven years into their current product cycle, in contrast to the 10-year-old brand’s initial promise of quick-change products that wouldn’t go stale.
 

ParadoX - 4/16/2014 8:02:25 PM

+3 Boost

I think they need to scrap more than that. It needs products that appeal to more than just niches if it wants to do more sales.

MattDarringer - 4/17/2014 10:32:48 AM

-1 Boost

There simply is no justification for Scion to continue. The FRS could become a Toyota Celica. I'd spin Prius off as a stand alone brand and work on making its products as chic to own as Minis portfolio. That would give Toyota a near premium brand between it and Lexus. Lexus could then be RWD only with the ES and the NX given to the newly branded Prius franchise.

Now that Subaru is pretty much stuck to Toyota, it makes sense for Toyota/Subaru to look at near-premium platform sharing.

Imagine a Prius "WRX" awd hybrid sportsedan...
Imagine a Prius MR2 hybrid

HughJass - 4/17/2014 1:25:08 PM

+1 Boost

Not sure if I've ever seen a Scion that I liked. If they want to move up market which to me would put them in competition with Toyota, the just stick to rebadging socalled halo cars.

A Scion WRX would be a good start and maybe a FWD Forester, something that would get different customers to look at Scion. A rebadged Camry or Legacy would attract customer who may not be interested in Toyota or Subaru.

Larrybel2000 - 4/21/2014 8:29:58 PM

+1 Boost

I don't like the Toyota Subaru partnership. It's pointless.