Why the Scion iA was the most important vehicle released in New York this year.

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The New York International Auto Show passed by me so I won’t be able to do my usual article on it. However, what I can do is pinpoint the most important vehicle to take its first bow on the show. And it’s this: The Scion iA.
…would you put out that torch!? This is a good thing; it means it hasn’t quite given up on Scion yet.

If we’re honest with ourselves Scion is like Toyota’s hyper-accelerated version of Saturn. Sure there aren’t quite as many composite body panels and there’s a bit more Yaris underpinnings but the ideas and the directions they’ve taken in recent years are surprisingly similar. Up to and including botching their most successful product when it came time to replace it. The Saturn Ion never could capture the spirit of the S-Series and the second-generation Scion xB took everything that was good about the xB and focus grouped everything that the people liked about the original right out of it. And if you ask me, it has something to do with the similarities between two demographics when it comes to buying cars: first-time drivers and the elderly.
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Toyota’s marketing department, which I was going to call ‘brilliant’ until I remembered the phrase ‘grounded to the ground’ is something they willingly put on an ad, concluded that what Gen Y wanted (The word ‘millennial’ hadn’t been invented in 2002) and needed was economy cars and a streamlined buying process. You know who else enjoys those two things? Here’s a hint, they have an unusual hankering for the early bird breakfast and the main demographic for Mockbuster pictures as they buy them for their grandkids.
Currently the only thing anyone under the age of 50 wants from Scion is the FR-S and, bafflingly, the tC. The vehicle that picks up where the last-gen Celica left off in the same way that the FR-S picks up where the last good Celica left off. The rest of the lineup is composed of cars that haven’t been revamped since before Obama took office, not good for the ‘youth brand’. The secondary demographic surely appreciates it though.
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Toyota could just gradually reduce the number of Scions produced, fold the FR-S back into Toyota and act as though the whole thing was a simple corporate brain fart. Instead, they’ve decided to prove they can actually make a car to appeal to the young buyers, even on a shoestring budget. And to that end the Mazda Mazda2 is not a bad place to start. Sure its sales pale in comparison to its bigger 3 brother, but even at 13,615 American sales on 2014 it still outsold the Scion xD and is within 3000 of the ‘bread and butter’ xB. Being a Mazda it should have very decent handling and a lovely little engine. And then the problems begin.
For one, in all their promotional blurb they’ve chosen to use a silver car, the least ‘youthy’ color this side of beige. It can’t be to hide the enormous grille and cheekbones, which are distinctive and serve to differentiate it from the Mazda2. I’m glad they have gone for ‘love it or hate it’. Let’s face it, if they had left it with only the small moustache grille, me and every other writer in the land would just call it boring. If anything it creates a reaction.
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And that’s the name of the game to bring Scion back to the arena. Reactions. Not artificial marketing-driven reaction, but actual reactions to the product. This and the iM (which I’m hoping to my superior being that is eventually sold with AWD for great awesomeness and hoonage) are perhaps not the most enthusiast driven ways to come back to relevance among Gen Y, but they will be good for volume.
And if it doesn’t work old people are going to love them.

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  1. Tanshanomi Avatar

    I think the iM is pretty nice looking, and I love the fact that it will be available with a manual gearbox. But I doubt I would be willing to pay for all the fancy gizmos that are standard on it (backup camera, bluetooth, dual zone climate control, etc.)

  2. peugeotdude505 Avatar
    peugeotdude505

    looks like a Corolla with a sort-of Lancer grill. I don’t get it.

  3. Manic_King Avatar
    Manic_King

    Toyota has 1 designer who creates these hideous front parts both for Toyota and for Lexus? Fugly.
    Aygo has this X, and head-engineer David Terai explained to Der Welt of Germany that idea comes from the manga comics, and is inspired by Astroby. Do they have crackpipes in their offices?
    That X can be replaced with normal looking parts for 450 euros + work……
    http://www.welt.de/motor/article129174461/Der-Toyota-Aygo-kann-seinen-Style-veraendern.html
    http://img.welt.de/img/modelle/crop126051583/0199844264-ci3x2s-w300/Bildkombo-Astroboy-Toyota-Ay-2-.jpg

  4. njhoon Avatar
    njhoon

    My initial thought when I looked at the iA was “Oh look Scion made a Nissan Sentra.” That’s not good for Scion at all. The iM looks pretty good and I would even go as far as to look at it when getting a new car. Toyota has so completely wandered off the path that the original Scions started that they should just pull the plug and fold them into the regular toyota line. The FRS will still do well. The iQ would be a good competitor to the Smart of priced remotely close. Kill the iA because it is the same as the Yaris and Corolla. Fix the xB to compete with the Kia Soul or just put it out of our misery. Rename the iM to the Yaris iM and keep it because it might be worth saving. Better yet kill the Yaris name because I all I can think of when hear that name is Crappy Death Trap.

    1. Eric Rucker Avatar

      Well, the next Yaris is going to be a Mazda2 as well (although maybe not quite THAT blatant of a Mazda2 rebadge?), and the iM isn’t a Yaris, it’s a Corolla. (So, sell the iM as the Corolla Hatchback, which is exactly what it is.)

  5. Krautwursten Avatar
    Krautwursten

    Americans sure do seem to love their rebadge marketing because all I see are a Toyota Auris and a Ford Fiesta (which isn’t even one). Would you guys really not buy an FR-S with a Toyota badge simply because it’s from the same company as the Camry?

  6. Nizlehop Avatar
    Nizlehop

    According to http://www.corksport.com/blog/new-mazda-sedan-exclusive/ the Scion iA is a rebadged and sedanified Mazda 2, so it makes sense that it would share some general appearance cues with the fiesta, 2, and c-max with a pasted on Scion gaping maw front end.

  7. CraigSu Avatar
    CraigSu

    Scion is still around? Huh, who knew?