Scion Xb 2008 2.4 L Automatic Transmision, White Color 1 Owner on 2040-cars

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Scion to unveil new sedan in New York

Scion is on a mission to inject some new life into its struggling lineup. It unveiled a refreshed and rebadged Euro-market Toyota Auris as the iM Concept at the LA Auto Show in November, and is bringing it to market with that same nameplate. But that's not all: the youthful division from Toyota has just announced it's bringing a sedan join the production iM hatch on stage at the New York Auto Show in April. Although details are scarce, the close association Scion has drawn between the iM hatch and the new sedan suggests that the two could be related. The iM (like the Auris upon which it's based and the Matrix that came before) is already essentially a hatchback version of the Corolla sedan, which US buyers can find in Toyota showrooms. So whether the new sedan will be essentially a rehashed Corolla sedan, or something else entirely, remains to be seen. If Scion were to take a similar approach and bring over another Toyota model sold overseas, the new model could borrow heavily from the European-market Avensis or even Japan's Mark X. Whatever form the car ultimately takes, however, this will be Scion's first sedan, believe it or not. The brand has previously offered only hatchbacks like the iQ, xD and xB, and two-door coupes like the FR-S and tC. The latter, for what it's worth, shares its underpinnings with the Avensis. Scion says the new sedan and the iM hatch will "represent two of the three new models Scion will bring to market in the next three years," so expect one more to follow sometime in the near future. New Names and Bold Bodies Coming to Scion in 2015 First-Ever Scion Sedan and Scion iM on the way TORRANCE, Calif., (Jan. 7, 2015) – Like many others, Scion has a New Year's Resolution to debut an all-new body by spring. And not surprisingly, all eyes will be on its backside as Scion will be adding its first-ever sedan to its line-up. The new sedan will be introduced in April at the New York International Auto Show along with the all-new Scion iM. The iM is the official name for the production version of the iM Concept car shown at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. Together, the two vehicles represent two of the three new models Scion will bring to market in the next three years aimed at independently minded 18-34 year olds. The trio will bring exciting options for Scion's younger customers looking for vehicles to support both adventure and sensibility.

Toyota CEO Lentz still envisions Scion as a small premium brand

Ward's Auto has published a piece on Scion that further confirms that we really have no idea what to expect from the brand. In speaking with Toyota USA CEO Jim Lentz about what was once firmly intended to be a hip, experimental youth brand, Lentz said, "I still personally believe small-premium is the direction we should be going." We'll walk right on by Lentz's use of the word "still" and focus on "small-premium" with the question: How? As much as we dig the FR-S, nothing in the brand's lineup can get within a whiff of the word "premium." It's even further away from being able to sniff the lifestyle-powered exhaust of a Mini or Fiat 500, and the production version of the forthcoming IM Concept (inset) will only draw it closer to its plain vanilla parent. Of course, Scion could head the premium way, but the amount of time and money needed to make it work would seem to go against everything the brand currently stands for. The murk stays just as murky when Lentz's words are placed next to those of Scion brand VP Doug Murtha, who spoke to Ward's at a different time. Murtha's response to the "small-premium" note was, "He may be having discussions at levels I'm not," and that such intent is "probably a longer-term proposition than we're looking at right now," with planning under way out to 2025. We're already being prepared for the iM to come in under $20,000, which will ensure the "attainability factor" of the "younger audience" that Murtha still views as Scion's base. And at the moment, Murtha is probably focused on adding desirability to the current lineup, halting the 14-percent year-over-year sales slide to a point that's just over half the annual volume necessary for profitability, and making sure he and his dealers have the support necessary to make the required splash with new product. Aside from all that, what might we expect? We know there'll be another product shown along with the production IM at the 2015 New York Auto Show, and Murtha isn't against a small crossover if they can come up with "something appropriately Scion-esque." So... there's that.

Scion was Toyota's lost generation

Toyota's top North American leader was succinct in explaining the reasons for killing Scion. "It's the right decision at the right time," Jim Lentz said. It's hard to disagree. In a strong market that saw 17.5 million sales last year, Scion volume dipped three percent. Its product lineup has withered for years, which is always a telltale sign a brand doesn't have the full support of its owner. Though enthusiasts love the FR-S sports car, it's the fruit of a joint project with Subaru that also produced the BRZ. Scion's coolest car has a twin sold by one of its rivals. After the FR-S launched in 2012, Scion got nothing – squat – in the way of new products until the iA and iM arrived late last year, IHS senior analyst Stephanie Brinley noted. "[Scion] was not successful in building a visual brand identity or product personality," she said. Lentz, Scion's first vice president and now CEO of Toyota's North American division, admitted the market has changed. "Younger customers have a different mindset," he said. In the early oughts, a brand that catered to a youthful demographic made some sense, and this is one front where Toyota can declare victory. Seventy percent of Scion's buyers were new to Toyota, and the average age was 36 years old. The problem is, not enough of them buy Scions anymore. Scion hit a highwater sales mark of 173,034 vehicles in 2006 and hasn't come close to reaching that since. The recession hurt Scion, too. It bottomed out in 2010 with just 45,678 sales, a time when the rest of the industry was beginning to recover. There was a brief uptick (73,507) in 2012, but Scion failed to capitalize on that momentum and sales fell for three more years. Toyota is calling Scion's pending death a "transition" back to the main company. Sure, most of the cars will be rebadged Toyotas, like the FR-S, iA, and iM. The C-HR, an attractive future crossover that would have given Scion a boost, will go into production as a Toyota. But make no mistake: This is a failure. Toyota is closing a brand in the same way General Motors scrapped Oldsmobile, Ford shuttered Mercury, and Chrysler dropped Plymouth. Those brands languished for years. Toyota moved quicker to put the fork in Scion, which prevented it from becoming a long-term drain on the parent company. Lentz was dead on. It's the right time. News & Analysis News: Sergio Marchionne is against a Ferrari SUV Analysis: His exact words were, "you have to shoot me first," Bloomberg reported.