While trendy fashion statements like the Fiat 500 seem to have broken the size preconception barrier (although not completely) that American car buyers have, other pint-sized models were not so lucky. Take the Smart, for instance, which simply didn’t catch on in the States as much as it was desired, and now a similar model is facing the axe – the Scion iQ.
Basically a rebadged version of the Toyota iQ, the car will not be “staying in the lineup too much longer,” according to Dough Murtha, the boss of Scion. He did also confirm that all the other models it currently sells will continue to be offered.
It will still introduce three new models over the next three years, two of which will debut in the latter part of 2015. This, in an effort to bring up sales which have reportedly sagged some 15 percent in 2014 compared to the year prior.
Murtha did admit that the iQ was a “health experiment” for Toyota, and that it taught them important lessons about US buyers’ tastes. Apparently, people couldn’t get over the car’s size and it apparently caused nervousness – I say those are just preconceptions because I too drove a (Toyota-badged) iQ a while back and found it to be very surefooted and reassuring to drive despite expecting the same not-so-reassuring small car feel…
Another reason people steered away from the Scion iQ, according to Bloomberg, is the car’s price. It’s priced from $16,435 which puts it in the line of fire of the larger xD or the four-door and much more grown up Toyota Yaris (and that’s just their own models).
Not even the fact that it was the most efficient non-hybrid in the US was enough to tempt buyers into owning one.
Photo Gallery
