Toyota ends youth-oriented Scion brand

Brand to die in Canada as well but models live on as Toyotas

Plummeting sales killed Scion.

U.S. sales fell from a high of over 173,000 in 2006 to a low of about 50,000 in 2011. And though they revived somewhat in 2012 rising to 74,000, they fell again to 58,000 in 2014 and about 56,000 last year.

Scion will suffer the same fate here.

Larry Hutchinson, Toyota Canada president/CEO, eulogized the brand, saying “Scion achieved its goals of developing unique products and processes, and bringing in new, younger customers to Toyota.

“In Canada, 65 per cent of Scions were purchased by customers new to the Toyota family and Scion has one of the youngest average customer age in the industry of 39 years.”

Hutchinson said Scion made Toyota and its dealers stronger by teaching them how to better attract and engage young customers.

“This is exactly what we have accomplished and we look forward to expanding our product lineup with exciting product.”

As part of the brand transition, model year ’17 Scion vehicles will be introduced as Toyotas beginning August 2016.

The FR-S sports car and iM 5-door hatchback will become a part of the Toyota family.

The tC sports coupe will have a final release series edition and end production in August 2016.

The C-HR, which recently debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show, will also become a part of the Toyota line-up.

These models will be offered for the first time in eastern Canada.

Toyota said the service and repair process for Scion customers will be unaffected by the change as customers will continue to visit service departments at Toyota dealerships. 

In a release, Scion V-P Andrew Gilleland listed the brand’s achievements, which included no haggle Pure Pricing, Pure Process, a transparent financing process, and Pure Process Plus, an online system that helps customers complete most of the purchase online.

“It has been a great run and I’m proud that the spirit of Scion will live on through the knowledge and products soon to be available through the Toyota network,” Gilleland said.

Stephen Beatty, Toyota V-P, said the automaker would work closely with its dealer council to smooth the transition.