Toyota to discontinue the Scion youth-oriented brand

Scion no more: Scion's last concept vehicle shown off at the Detroit Auto Show - Photo By Gadjo Sevilla

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Scion, the Toyota sub-brand designed to attract younger buyers will be discontinued. Toyota said it will rebadge three of its 2017 model-year Scions as Toyotas, beginning in August. One model, the tC coupe, will no longer be produced as of that month. Scion debuted in the US in 2003 and was a targeted towards first-time buyers and students.

The brand was built on the foundations of Toyota vehicles but offered customization in terms of colour and materials, quirky vehicle styles and youthful advertising campaigns. Scion only came to Canada in 2010, Toyota is scrapping the brand in response to customer needs.

While Scion's models did appeal to younger buyers, they did have universal appeal and offered variants that few other carmakers could compete with. Personally, I was impressed by the 2016 Scion iM hatchback which seems to have absorbed some styling cues from Toyota as well as Lexus. 

Half of Scion buyers were under 35 years of age. And In Canada, nearly two-thirds of Scions sold were bought by customers who'd never bought any Toyota products.

"Our goal was to make Toyota and our dealers stronger by learning how to better attract and engage young customers," said Toyota Canada CEO Larry Hutchinson. "This is exactly what we have accomplished." While Scion always struggled with poor sales, the biggest reason for discontinuing the brand is likely that the target audience matured and started buying more mainstream vehicles.

Scion, which is only sold in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, has no stand-alone dealerships. The brand is sold through 1,004 Toyota dealerships, which will continue to service the cars and when the current models get a Toyota rebrand later in the year, they will continue to be offered as part of Toyota's portfolio of vehicles.