The Scion brand, a Toyota creation for the North American market, has been struggling in recent years, with lackluster sales and an ageing model lineup. Now, in the face of front-wheel drive, premium cars from Europe, officials are mulling a rethink of the entire brand, which may move upmarket and fight vehicles like Mercedes’ CLA, or the Audi A3.
It seems that there is also quite a bit of pressure involved, as Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America stated to Autonews: “Everybody is looking at what direction Scion should go […] We have to take a real hard look at what the future of the industry looks like strategically, and where we want Scion to play.”
If they did move upmarket, then Scion would slot into the scheme of things, right underneath Lexus, offering an entry price point of below $30,000, a barrier you won’t see the L-badged cars go south of any time soon.
If Scion is pushed further upmarket, the young buyers they were targeting will be steered into Toyota showrooms, as the Japanese Leviathan will try to entice them with sexy new versions of their current cars. The next Corolla, which will look a lot like the Furia concept is one such car, and more will follow.
Scion could benefit from an FR-S-based car, as officials have previously stated that the platform that underpins it is flexible and could spawn more cars with rear-wheel drive. First, though, they need to see what they can do about the old xB and xD, both of which are now six years old and in need of all-new replacements.
Still, they don’t seem fully convinced on which route to take, as Jim Letz says in his final statement: “If the market is coming to you, do you do it with Toyota or do you do it with Scion?”
By Andrei Nedelea
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