Will Toyota kill the Scion brand today?

[Madman]

The interwebs is swirling with rumours this morning that Toyota will announce later today that the Scion brand is going to that great automotive junkyard in the sky.  As to what will happen with Scion's existing models is anybody's guess.  Both the iM and iA have only just been been launched and I wonder if they will be hastily rebranded as Toyotas.  The FR-S could easily become a Toyota GT86, too.

I guess we'll wait and see.


http://jalopnik.com/is-toyota-going-to-kill-off-scion-today-1756800336

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/02/will-toyota-kill-off-the-scion-brand-today/

[SJ_GTI]

Saw this on TCL this morning.

No need for the question mark now BTW. Toyota has issued a press release confirming. The remaining car models will transition to Toyota.

[Payman]

Probably the only marque retirement in history that everyone is applauding.

[ifcar]

Yep, confirmed: http://pressroom.scion.com/releases/scion+transition+toyota.htm?view_id=40123

The old models (tC, xB) that were dying anyway will still die. The others will get the Toyota badges they should have had from Day 1.

[Xer0]

Finally.


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[MX793]

Will the models moving to Toyota retain their model names or will they adopt their Toyota brand names used in other markets?  Will the FRS become the GT86?  Will the iM be rebranded as a Corolla, or will they revive the Matrix?

[SVT666]

Probably the only marque retirement in history that everyone is applauding.

Saturn?

[MX793]

Saturn?

Mercury?

[SJ_GTI]

Will the models moving to Toyota retain their model names or will they adopt their Toyota brand names used in other markets?  Will the FRS become the GT86?  Will the iM be rebranded as a Corolla, or will they revive the Matrix?

They haven't said yet, but I think the most likely approach is that Toyota will keep the individual model names as-is for this generation and then just change the names when (if) the replacements happen.

[MX793]

They haven't said yet, but I think the most likely approach is that Toyota will keep the individual model names as-is for this generation and then just change the names when (if) the replacements happen.

Personally, I think the FRS has enough recognition that they should retain it.  The iM is new enough not to have much brand equity, while the Corolla and Matrix names have a lot of name recognition and brand equity.

[SJ_GTI]

Personally, I think the FRS has enough recognition that they should retain it.  The iM is new enough not to have much brand equity, while the Corolla and Matrix names have a lot of name recognition and brand equity.

Isn't there already a Corolla though?

Matrix would make sense. I don't think there is a matric for sale currently.

[Raza]

It's about time. The only young people who wanted to have something to do with Scion were young people I wanted nothing to do with. Fake youthfulness tasted so bitter. Made me feel like I was being sold lemons painted gold.

[MX793]

Isn't there already a Corolla though?

Matrix would make sense. I don't think there is a matric for sale currently.

Call it a Corolla hatch (which it is) and leverage the equity.

[Payman]

Saturn?

Saturn had a solid following.

[Payman]

Mercury?

Mercury had a great history. Sad to think there'll be no more Capris or Cougars.

[shp4man]

I don't really follow the Jap manufacturers much, but WTF? Did the millenials change their tastes in cars? Did they all buy  Kia gerbilwagons?

[12,000 RPM]

Personally, I think the FRS has enough recognition that they should retain it.  The iM is new enough not to have much brand equity, while the Corolla and Matrix names have a lot of name recognition and brand equity.

Celica

[Cookie Monster]

Personally, I think the FRS has enough recognition that they should retain it.  The iM is new enough not to have much brand equity, while the Corolla and Matrix names have a lot of name recognition and brand equity.

GT86 would actually match the 86 badges on the car... just saying lol.

[veeman]

Is there any other car company in the U.S. that has no haggle pricing?  That sucks that this is going to go away.  When I was shopping a few years ago for a car, Scion was the only brand I didn't futz around on the internet for an hour figuring out what's a "good" price to pay before going to a dealership.  It was so refreshing to just walk in, go for a test drive (the FRS), and then tell the dealer I'd call him back with the color I want if I decided on this car. 

[Payman]

I don't really follow the Jap manufacturers much, but WTF? Did the millenials change their tastes in cars? Did they all buy  Kia gerbilwagons?

Millenials were pretty much indifferent to Scion. I believe the actual average buyer was 47 or something like that.

[Cookie Monster]

Millenials were pretty much indifferent to Scion. I believe the actual average buyer was 47 or something like that.

36

[Payman]

36

Close enough. 

[MX793]

Mercury had a great history. Sad to think there'll be no more Capris or Cougars.

They had, for a long time, peddled obviously rebadged Fords.

[Payman]

They had, for a long time, peddled obviously rebadged Fords.

Pretty much, except for the Tracer (Mazda Protege).

[2o6]

Pretty much, except for the Tracer (Mazda Protege).

Yeah but the Tracer was closer to Ford than Mazda

[MX793]

Pretty much, except for the Tracer (Mazda Protege).

And the Villager (rebadged Nissan). 

The Mazda-based Capri roadster of the early 90s and the FWD Cougar of the late 90s/early 2000s were the only cars Mercury offered over a 20+ year span before its demise that you couldn't buy a version of at somebody else's dealership, be it a FoMoCo sister brand or one outside the Ford family.

[Madman]

And the Villager (rebadged Nissan). 

The Mazda-based Capri roadster of the early 90s and the FWD Cougar of the late 90s/early 2000s were the only cars Mercury offered over a 20+ year span before its demise that you couldn't buy a version of at somebody else's dealership, be it a FoMoCo sister brand or one outside the Ford family.

Don't forget the Euro-Capri of the 1970s or the original Mazda-derived 1988-89 Tracer which was nearly identical to the Australian Ford Laser.

[Speed_Racer]

It's about time. The only young people who wanted to have something to do with Scion were young people I wanted nothing to do with. Fake youthfulness tasted so bitter. Made me feel like I was being sold lemons painted gold.

It felt like Scion was lead by a boomer exec trying way too hard to relate to millenials... without actually understanding anything about them.

[giant_mtb]

Jesus, finally. Scion has never appealed to me since day one. I don't know a single person that owns one. lol

[shp4man]

Don't forget the Euro-Capri of the 1970s or the original Mazda-derived 1988-89 Tracer which was nearly identical to the Australian Ford Laser.

I'll never forget the XR4TI's. I hated those fucking things. Pains in the ass to diagnose. And the Merkur. I made the sign of the cross every time one of those satanic vehicles came in the service drive.