How Is THAT Going To Work? CEO Wants To Position Scion As A Premium Brand

“I still personally believe small-premium is the direction we should be going,” he tells WardsAuto in a recent interview here during a Toyota press event. “I think that (the) Toyota channel, itself, with vehicles like Yaris and other small, B-platform cars, can handle the lower end of the market. I think that C-platform premium small cars are probably the best place for Scion to be.”

The positioning also makes sense as Toyota’s Lexus luxury brand has said it won’t sell a model below $30,000, bucking the trend of other premium automakers offering models below that price point (Mercedes-Benz CLA, Audi A3).

However, Scion has said the upcoming production version of the iM concept displayed at the recent 2014 Los Angeles auto show will begin under $20,000.

MDarringer - 12/3/2014 7:05:08 PM

0 Boost

It's pretty smart actually. It definitely would do no worse than the current idiocy.

Drop all the rebadged Toyotas and make it a sports car / sporting car line. Of course it would need a new naming scheme.

The FR-S would be the middle car; let's call it the FR-5. The new Supra could be the FR-7. Then do an MR2 replacement called the FR-3.

Leverage the Lexus IS for a sedan for a more affordable sedan SR-5 and leverage the Corolla for a legitimate GTI fighter, the SR-3.

The beauty of this is that it could be done quickly and for cheap.

dodgedart - 12/4/2014 12:29:30 AM

+1 Boost

How about a premium micro pickup truck?
Gotta be some Dihatsu platform to fill in that gap!