2005 Scion Xb Base Wagon 4-door 1.5l on 2040-cars

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Scion to offer redesigned xB for 2015, FR-S sedan in 2016?

The future of the Scion brand remains up in the air, with a report from a few weeks back that Toyota dealers with attached Scion franchises could drop the youth-minded brand without penalty, rarely a good sign. That report was contrasted, though, with a story out of Australia that claimed we'd see a four-door sedan based on the splendid FR-S's overseas sibling, the Toyota GT 86. Now, we're hearing that a revised xB, Scion's formerly lovable toaster, is on the way. What gives?
As for the new xB, the news comes from our friends at Edmunds, which cites an unnamed source, who claims a new box-on-wheels should arrive in 2015 as part of potentially larger push for the Japanese sub-brand. Aside from the original xB, which enjoys a strong cult following, and the FR-S, Scion has had fewer home runs than Prince Fielder's post-season.
"In the next two calendar years, we will have a blend of both upgrades to the products we have in the market and at least one new model," according to Scion's vice president, Doug Murtha, who spoke to Edmunds via phone.

In the wake of Scion, who will dare to be 'different?'

When Scion launched in 2003, it brought the promise of something "different" – affordable, unique vehicles for the North American market. For a while, Scion delivered on that promise. The "box it came in" xB, the full-glass-roof tC, unconventional marketing, in-dealer "aftermarket" customization options, and no-haggle pricing were Scion specialties. Over the years Scion seemed to lose sight of the original promise, with new product becoming more mainstream and less interesting. By the time the fun-to-drive FR-S arrived, practically all other innovation had left the building, replaced by badge engineering. Sadly Scion is soon to be no more although most of it's current offerings will be rebadged and sold as Toyota's starting in 2017. Scion's website still claims it has been "different since day one," but with Scion gone, which manufacturer is likely to bring us something affordable, funky, fun, and "different" in the near future? Caveats: I am Limiting the scope of this article to mainstream manufacturers, or those who sold at least 500,000 vehicles in the US in 2015. Since the average transaction price of a new vehicle in the US is around $30,000 I am only including those companies who are playing in this neighborhood. Here are my selections in order from least likely to be "Different" to most likely. Least likely to bring something "Different" - Ford and VW Ford Mo Co - This is where the hate mail begins, but if you think about it, the current regime at Ford is about as conservative as you will find. This is not necessarily a criticism, as the cars for the masses approach has worked well for Ford and their stakeholders. But outside of the few hotted up Mustangs, Fiesta's, F150's and Focus, Ford does not veer out of it's volume model zone. I don't see this changing, Ford will continue to sell you a variety of F150's, a Taurus, Fusion or Focus and even a gaggle of SUV's. But Ford will not rock the boat by veering into the niches with unusual affordable US models. When was the last time you saw a not-for-production concept out of Ford? VW Group - In America Volkswagen can be counted on to bring the conventional. Outside of the New Beetle and EOS convertible, Volkswagen has recently only sold mainstream vehicles. You can buy a Golf (They did go crazy and call it the Rabbit for a bit) Jetta, Passat, Tiguan or Touareg. Nothing in that lineup with the possible exception of the Beetle could be considered an unusual or niche product.

2013 Scion FR-S

The New Poster Child For Cheap Thrills
Let me tell you about a man named Larry. Larry works for a company called STI Fleet Services, one of a few companies that are responsible for the cleaning, prepping, maintaining, scheduling, delivering and picking up of the cars we test on a weekly basis, not to mention a whole slew of other duties. STI and its competitors are the silent heroes of this whole automotive journalism biz. Larry is one of the guys responsible for a lot of the grunt work - he's been delivering cars to me for nearly seven years now, and because of that, we've developed a bit of a rapport. Now that I think about it, my history with Larry goes back farther than several of my friendships, as well as every romantic relationship I've ever had... combined.
With that much history behind us, Larry knows my taste in cars pretty well. And even though he doesn't voice his own opinions about what's being delivered to me, Larry silently knows when he's about to hand me keys to something truly special. When Larry arrived at my door with a bright red 2013 Scion FR-S, I tried to play it cool. But Larry knows me better than that.