The Scion brand will no longer be around by August 2016. The current models will be rebadge as Toyota models.

 

WOW. What a fail in the right direction.

 

Official press release:

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

Intersting tidbits (especially popular tC):

As part of the brand transition, beginning in August 2016, MY17 Scion vehicles will be rebadged as Toyotas. The FR-S sports car, iA sedan and iM 5-door hatchback will become part of the Toyota family. The tC sports coupe will have a final release series edition and end production in August 2016. The C-HR, which recently debuted at the L.A. Auto Show, will be a part of the Toyota line-up.

 

good idea to inject some youthful fun into the boring toyota brand.

 

I never understood the need for another brand name and selling Scion in the same Toyota dealership
Also the no haggle policy didn't help.

 

I really didn't want this to happen, but the Laws of Economics just proved that Scion isn't profitable to survive.

Scion was a great idea in the beginning, but lacked progression and became stale. Surely Toyota's fault. They wanted to cater to a market population that wanted something fresh and different, and Toyota hardly offered anything fresh and different (beyond the iQ, which didn't meet American demand) after the first generation xA and xB.

Scion's competitors were doing a better job in offering value products with a lot more tech and desireability. Even American products such as the Spark or Fiesta were more desireable than the xD. The Soul outdid the xB. Smart outsold the iQ. The Civic and Forte was more economical than the tC. The FRS should have always been a Toyota in the first place.

In retrospect, one way Scion could have survived was to get rid of Pure Pricing, as people would have bargained for what they believed was the cars' value. You have to let the market give you an idea of the car's value, beyond sales numbers, but actual market pricing. Who knows? I'm pretty sure Toyota has a lot to think about...

 

Somewhat sad but probably necessary and a bit overdue. I had a first gen tC (2006) and quite enjoyed the car and the great ability to make it mine with a huge assortment of TRD accessories. I don't think the name Scion was as much the issue, but the products lost their competitiveness and uniqueness.

 

They finally did it. Thanks god. Toyota FRS/86 whatever it will be called.

 

Never understood the point of Scion. Glad they are getting rid of it. This should be a lesson that no haggle pricing does not work.

 

Will the models be renamed also -- FR-S to GT 86, iA to Yaris Sedan (as it is already named in Canada), iM to Corolla Hatchback?

That was Scion's purpose from the beginning.

Agreed.

I assume that Scion in Canada will also be folded into Toyota but it may be easier here, since it has only been around for 5 years, so it is less established.

 

I don't know how you can claim that is this a fail on the part of no haggle pricing. There were MANY MANY MANY issues that eventually resulted in the death of the Scion brand.

Changes in marketing themes... it used to feature zero mainstream advertising, and what it did use was a lot of dark/tuner imagery, more recently it became much brighter and typical.

They said they'd have crazy new products for each model, but they tried to re-boot the xB 2.0 which missed its mark. Then they had absolutely no new products. Can't really create enough buzz with a couple Release Series here and there.

As for "no haggle pricing" Toyota is still pushing forward with implementation of this, even with several Lexus dealerships. So, again, tell me how this can get pinned on no haggle pricing.

 

Good riddance. Being 32 and in that demographic range for Scion, I can tell you that myself(and a lot of other people my age) do not like being pandered and marketed to.

I don't need some monolith corporation like Toyota telling me their weird cars they used to only sell in Japan are super cool and hip, that they fit into this "fast and furious" tuner culture when they weren't even performance cars at all. Granted the FR-S is a legit performance car, but I like the Subie version better.

 

The Scion brand never made a lick of sense. Kinda sad that it took dismal sales for Toyota to finally come to their senses.

 

I understand the rationale behind the brand but in an era where younger people are most squeezed for money and waiting longer to buy cars, it just didn't make sense. It did not help either that none of their products besides the first-gen tC was compelling in any way. The FRS wasn't an attractive buy because the Subaru variant was the same car with some upgrades and a marginally-higher price tag.

Aside from the tC all Scions will become Toyotas in about 6 months, so it's whatever.

 

I'm shocked, honestly. We've owned an 06 tC for 10 years now, and just sold it last week. Never saw this coming especially seeing all the FRS's and XB's rolling around the neighborhood