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Old 04-02-2013, 08:40 AM   #1
warpath
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Default Scion May Move More Upmarket, Abandon its Youth-Oriented Approach

Ummm... isn't that what Toyota is for...

Carscoop: http://www.carscoops.com/2013/04/sci...t-abandon.html



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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?"
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Old 04-02-2013, 09:11 AM   #2
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Except Toyota doesn't make exciting cars. Kids don't have all that much money compared to young adults. Young adults would rather not buy cars typically driven by teenagers if they don't want the boy racer look.
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Old 04-02-2013, 09:16 AM   #3
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Ummm... isn't that what Lexus is for? Is this a remnant of an April Fools joke?

--kC
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Old 04-02-2013, 09:21 AM   #4
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Kill it off already. It has been a failure from the start.
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Old 04-02-2013, 09:43 AM   #5
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they'll have to start by renaming the brand...

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sci·on noun \***712;s***299;-***601;n\
a : descendant, child; especially : a descendant of a wealthy, aristocratic, or influential family
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Old 04-02-2013, 09:53 AM   #6
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Toyota hit a home run when the brand was first released...but as with most fads...they don't last. This is another reason I thought the FR-S should have been brought under the Toyota brand. You throw a very nice sports car under a collapsing brand to prop it up and what you get is a brand that's still collapsing and depending on the sales of a vehicle that has a fixed market. The FR-S isn't inspiring anyone to buy an xB, xA or iQ...possibly a tC for those that can't afford an FR-S but still want to feel like they own a sporty 2 door coupe with a little more functionality.
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Old 04-02-2013, 11:20 AM   #7
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Originally Posted by KC View Post
Ummm... isn't that what Lexus is for? Is this a remnant of an April Fools joke?

--kC
I meant upscale from Scion would be a Toyota.
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Old 04-02-2013, 11:47 AM   #8
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Does this mean the FRS will be the LOW priced option of their lineup?
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Old 04-02-2013, 12:04 PM   #9
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They should keep it a cheap brand but market it to the people that are actually buying Scions. Old People
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Old 04-02-2013, 12:16 PM   #10
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Translation: We aren't selling cars, so we are desperate.

Seriously, when was the last time you saw a new Scion on the road? Even the FR-S?
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Old 04-02-2013, 12:56 PM   #11
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Even the FR-S?
This is the sad part. I haven't seen but one frs, and like 3 brzs. Scion and their "pure pricing" killed it with their 25k price point. People on here have said they picked up their brz's for that price, and the brz comes better equipped, at least in terms of amenities (I still think the frs looks better). I don't want the stuff, but I can see why the brz sells more.

If they dropped the price a grand, maybe two if this continues? I think it would be a different story.
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Old 04-02-2013, 01:54 PM   #12
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the next wrx is supposed to be more mature/upscale.

so maybe a wrx based scion.

before we know it, all scions will be built in subaru factories LOL.
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Old 04-02-2013, 07:06 PM   #13
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The market has moved a lot since Scion was launched... The Koreans have stolen Scion's "value" oriented customers away on the bottom end. The American companies have made huge strides in quality and refinement, while Scion has sat still. The interior of a new xB felt cheaper than my Subaru.

As far as "coolness," Scions appealed to the Fast & Furious crowd, which has largely grown up. The trend of "personalizing" and "modding" cheap cars on a grand scale is over. The only cars that get modded these days are enthusiast cars. I don't even see Civics getting fart cans and big wheels anymore.

Toyota should kill Scion and take its good/unique products back to the Toyota brand. Toyota can earn young customers again if they make cars that young people want. Not by "marketing" vanilla cars to them.
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Old 04-02-2013, 10:15 PM   #14
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Kill Scion and rename the models.

Scion xB - Toyota xB (they need a new xB that isn't a Camry engine gas guzzler)
Scion FR-S - Toyota FR-S
Scion tC - Toyota Celica
Scion xD - Toyota Echo (I like it for the sole reason it's basically a Yaris with a Corolla engine. If they kill it, then I hope they come out with a Yaris RS)

Last edited by Eyeflyistheeye; 04-02-2013 at 10:21 PM.
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Old 04-02-2013, 10:23 PM   #15
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Take a name associated with funky cheap cars and try to move it upmarket. Why would anyone think that is a good idea?
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Old 04-02-2013, 11:15 PM   #16
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Originally Posted by Eyeflyistheeye View Post
Kill Scion and rename the models.

Scion FR-S - Toyota GT-86
Fixed.
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Old 04-02-2013, 11:33 PM   #17
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Take a name associated with funky cheap cars and try to move it upmarket. Why would anyone think that is a good idea?
Ask hyundai.
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Old 04-03-2013, 10:29 AM   #18
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Hyundai was known for cheap cars driven by young people. Scion is known for cheap cars driven by old people. That's something of a difference, in terms of redirecting a brand.
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Old 04-03-2013, 04:27 PM   #19
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Originally Posted by pauli133 View Post
Hyundai was known for cheap cars driven by young people. Scion is known for cheap cars driven by old people. That's something of a difference, in terms of redirecting a brand.
Old people do not buy scions( )and young cheap people buy Hyundais.
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Old 04-03-2013, 05:29 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GDB FAN View Post
Old people do not buy scions( )
They do. I don't think of the Scion brand as an outright failure like some here do, but I do think it's "youth branding" was a failure. The xA and xD always sold way more to old people. The xB has been as popular with old folk as with the young. The first-gen tC was really the only car that sold to the intended market, I have no idea if the second-gen is, but I imagine it's splitting out more too.
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Old 04-03-2013, 05:35 PM   #21
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How about go back to the 1st Gen Celica roots and rename the FR-S to Celica and drop The Tc completely
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Old 04-03-2013, 05:35 PM   #22
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Originally Posted by Calamity Jesus View Post
Fixed.
Thank you!
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Old 04-03-2013, 05:49 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by russnuck View Post
How about go back to the 1st Gen Celica roots and rename the FR-S to Celica and drop The Tc completely
Or just GT 86 world-wide. Everywhere besides the US, the car is known as Toyota GT 86.



All Scions are Toyotas elsewhere, save maybe tC, which is basically a re-bodied corolla as a coupe... and could become a Corolla officially with not too much redecorating work.

Scion is a USDM marketing device.

Scion could evaporate, all the products revert to their Toyota names, and not many people would notice much difference.
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Old 04-03-2013, 05:52 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by HipToBeSquare View Post

Scion could evaporate, all the products revert to their Toyota names, and not many people would notice much difference.
I love this line because this is how I've always felt. No one would shed a tear as long as the cars remained under Toyota in some iteration. Much stranger and more confusing things have happened in the automotive world.

But then there are the Scion dealerships. Are any of them singular Scion dealerships? Most I've seen have been shared.
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Old 04-03-2013, 05:58 PM   #25
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Originally Posted by chanomatik View Post
I love this line because this is how I've always felt. No one would shed a tear as long as the cars remained under Toyota in some iteration. Much stranger and more confusing things have happened in the automotive world.

But then there are the Scion dealerships. Are any of them singular Scion dealerships? Most I've seen have been shared.
The ones I have seen are shared. The one closest is shared with Toyota directly... some others may be shared with other import brands like Mitsubishi, Hyundai and/or Kia, or others.

I can't imagine that Scions make enough margin to afford the overhead of a dedicated dealership network, without cost-sharing with others.

I have often wondered what justifies the extra overhead expense of maintaining the branding of Scion, even moreso that brands like Acura, or even now-dead Mercury. Pontiac had more cause to remain on the market that Scion seems to, but that was GM and Gub'ment bad crisis management.

I don't think Toyota would really LIKE the process of re-absorbing Scion... as sort of a tacit admission of that venture's failure, by it's retraction. I wonder how far they'll push a needless position to save face on that. Japanese culture doesn't seem ultra-understanding of the appearance of failure. They certainly don't seem to have trouble cutting car nameplates loose, and not revisiting them, if they fail to sell, rather than re-tooling them, and trying again.

Frankly I don't think the US buying public would care very much, after the automotive industry news headlines would move on to other issues. The press and marketing efforts seem far too focused on the next big thing to get people interested in. Old news doesn't sell.

Last edited by HipToBeSquare; 04-03-2013 at 06:04 PM.
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