Scion brand is no more

[SithSolo1]

Models will transition to Toyota branding

http://pressroom.toyota.com/releases/scion+transition+toyota.htm


Looks like the tC is EOL as well.

 

[KentState]

The Scion brand lost the magic. When it launched, fun ecobox type cars were not prevalent, but now all brands offer something and most are better than Toyota. Only selling 56k cars last year and with very little margin doens't make sense.

 

[JulesMaximus]

The Scion brand lost the magic when 20 somethings started slapping fart cans on them thinking they were fast and furious.

 

[KentState]

The Scion brand lost the magic when 20 somethings started slapping fart cans on them thinking they were fast and furious.

Scion kinda did that to themselves by selling a lot of those products. Nothing like slapping a TRD air intake and exhaust on an xB.

 

[exar333]

The Scion brand lost the magic when 20 somethings started slapping fart cans on them thinking they were fast and furious.

That was 10 years ago.... (but I definitely agree)

Can't seem to find the link, but another article on this referenced an average age of 49 for Scion purchasers in 2015. Not quite the demographic they were targeting...

 

[exar333]

RIP to a brand that was never quite needed and was unique to NA. I don't think anyone will really miss this company, honestly, except those who may work in the Scion dealerships. Generally I have seen Scion dealerships attached to Toyota ones anyways, so I don't think the transition will be massive.

I am assuming Toyota will service them without interruption?

 

[tsupersonic]

Good, there was no point to Scion.

 

[ChronoReverse]

I was just talking about how the Scion brand really isn't doing too well and was kinda pointless. I guess it was obvious to everyone, even Toyota execs.

 

[core2slow]

Funny how this "affordable" and hip brand sorta crash the same time the housing market did in 08. On the brightside, selling +1million cars throughout the past 13years is not that bad, considering they're being cannibalized by their own parent company's cheap, sub-compact cars.

 

[ISAslot]

bring back the Tercel!

 

[core2slow]

bring back the Tercel!

Screw that! Bring back the mk2 MR2 Turbo (not the girly spyder)!! That's what the people want and instead they gave us the lacklustered FRS (which Toyota now admits due to slow sales) :thumbsdown:

 

[Eug]

I don't think the Scion brand ever had the "magic".

 

[cbrsurfr]

That was 10 years ago.... (but I definitely agree)

Can't seem to find the link, but another article on this referenced an average age of 49 for Scion purchasers in 2015. Not quite the demographic they were targeting...

Motortrend mentioned the 49 average age but did not cite any sources.

http://www.motortrend.com/news/brea...B9E55C2EA14F7126522EAB2C8C7A9589A190BE67092AF

I say good riddence. Maybe Mazda, Mitsubishi and other small players can get a slight sales bump from Scion bowing out.

 

[exar333]

Funny how this "affordable" and hip brand sorta crash the same time the housing market did in 08. On the brightside, selling +1million cars throughout the past 13years is not that bad, considering they're being cannibalized by their own parent company's cheap, sub-compact cars.

Considering all car companie's sales tanked then, I don't think it was unique to Scion. The difference was Scion never really recovered because it had poor choices.

The only 'unique' Scion ever was the xB. It was kind of funky-looking, basic and boxy-shaped. After it was 'refreshed' and lost it's charm, Scion had no unique and intriguing models. Similar history to Saturn post-GM buyout.

 

[KentState]

I don't think the Scion brand ever had the "magic".

Scion's sales for the first few years were higher than that of Honda. Not bad when you only have 2-3 models and they are all small cars. Has to be some magic in moving that many cars a year.

 

[Leyawiin]

Good, there was no point to Scion.

There never was. My first car was a Celica and when they introduced the brand I wonder why they think they needed a separate "youth" oriented brand. They had sold such models as Toyotas for years. What was ironic was the xB ended up becoming the new PT Cruiser for old folks.

 

[thomsbrain]

The Scion brand lost the magic when 20 somethings started slapping fart cans on them thinking they were fast and furious.

That was the entire intention of the brand: To scoop up what they perceived as a market of young, image conscious buyers who wanted small cars to use as canvases for self-expression (but who didn't really have any need or desire to go fast). That's why they launched with the (relatively) huge catalog of low-priced dealer-installed add-ons. They wanted young people to buy these as their first new car, then graduate to Toyota and Lexus as they got older and had families.

The brand lost the magic when it turned out that the average age of a Scion buyer was scarcely any younger than the Camry. 10-20 years earlier, the marketing model might have been a winner, but what they didn't predict was that millennials as a demographic have no interest in cars, and are so loaded in student loan debt that they have no money to buy new ones even if they cared.

 

[JimKiler]

RIP to a brand that was never quite needed and was unique to NA. I don't think anyone will really miss this company, honestly, except those who may work in the Scion dealerships. Generally I have seen Scion dealerships attached to Toyota ones anyways, so I don't think the transition will be massive.

I am assuming Toyota will service them without interruption?

I only saw Toyota dealerships with scion cars up here in MN. Are you saying there were/are Scion only dealerships?

 

[core2slow]

I only saw Toyota dealerships with scion cars up here in MN. Are you saying there were/are Scion only dealerships?

Can't speak for other states, but in CA, yes.

 

[Ketchup]

That Toyota press release is hilarious:

"This isn’t a step backward for Scion; it’s a leap forward for Toyota"
"Scion has allowed us to fast track ideas that would have been challenging to test through the Toyota network"
"Today’s younger buyers still want fun-to-drive vehicles that look good, but they are also more practical. They, like their parents, have come to appreciate the Toyota brand and its traditional attributes of quality, dependability and reliability."

Yeah, ok. A little less BS over here:

"'They were grasping at straws with Scion, trying to be quirky, trying to be different, and it just didn’t work,' said Peter De Lorenzo, editor of Autoextremist.com and former auto marketing executive, in an interview."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money...saturn-pontiac-hummer-saab-plymouth/79752672/

 

[zerocool84]

They were cool when they were first released but then they turned complacent and even the xB which was different when new changed into an average car with the newer version. They kept making them more and more like every other car.

 

[Kelvrick]

Scion's sales for the first few years were higher than that of Honda. Not bad when you only have 2-3 models and they are all small cars. Has to be some magic in moving that many cars a year.

Um, what? You need to look at the stats again. Scion's best years was when it cracked over 10% of Honda's sales numbers.

 

[KentState]

Um, what? You need to look at the stats again. Scion's best years was when it cracked over 10% of Honda's sales numbers.

Your right. I was look at monthly sales not yearly for Honda. Still not bad for only selling a few models compared to an entire brand.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Aw. I liked the FRS, though I suppose it will go back to toyota as the 86i, and it's already made by subaru anyway. The rest of the cars were meh at best.

 

[Meghan54]

What was ironic was the xB ended up becoming the new PT Cruiser for old folks.

Well, until the Kia Soul hit the market.