Scion C-HR Concept
Toyota confirmed today that its Scion brand will be axed. All existing Scions apart from the tC coupe will become Toyotas. The changeover will take place once the first 2017 models start arriving, currently scheduled for this August.
This means cars like the FR-S sports car, iA sedan and iM 5-door hatchback will soon be Toyotas. It also means that the upcoming subcompact crossover previewed recently by the Scion C-HR concept will also be a Toyota.
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With annual sales for the past three years hovering around 60,000 units, today's announcement doesn’t come as a complete surprise. But the experiment wasn't a total failure, as Toyota Motor North America CEO Jim Lentz explained.
“This isn’t a step backward for Scion; it’s a leap forward for Toyota,” he said. “I was there when we established Scion and our goal was to make Toyota and our dealers stronger by learning how to better attract and engage young customers.”
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Scion was established in 2003 to be Toyota’s youth brand and it certainly achieved that thanks to an average customer age of 36, which we're told is the youngest in the industry.
It’s not clear what will happen to Scion’s 1,004 dealers. Toyota says it will work closely with them to deal with the change. Customers need not worry, as the service and repair process will be unaffected. They will simply be able to visit service departments at Toyota dealers.
For more information, see the in-depth report over at Green Car Reports.
