Is Scion Really Dead?

Update: This story has been confirmed by a press release issued by Toyota. For 2017, the FR-S and iM will be sold by Toyota, while the tC will simply be retired. The C-HR concept car presented at the Los Angeles Auto Show will also join the Toyota line-up in the future. All 1,004 Scion dealerships will close their doors and service will be handled by Toyota. Scion employees will be offered jobs at Toyota. 

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Since yesterday, the rumour mill has been buzzing with news that Toyota is eliminating Scion today, 13 years after its creation. The story has been reported by several major publications, but it was first leaked on Carbuzzard.com.

According to them, Scion employees were informed on Tuesday and the move will be confirmed today by Toyota. 

Launched in 2002 in the U.S. and 2010 in Canada, Toyota’s Scion division targeted a significantly younger clientele. Despite the manufacturer’s efforts to revive the label, sales have steadily declined in recent years. Not even their recent arrivals—the iA (sold in the U.S. only) and the iM—could save it. The other vehicles in the line-up included the tC and FR-S, a sports coupe that borrows its mechanical organs from the Subaru BR-Z. But there’s no question that the brand’s defining vehicle was the xB, whose cube-like shape inspired several others. 

This story joins several similar disappearances so far this year, namely those of the Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200.

• Scion presented the C-HR concept at the Los Angeles Auto Show
• An overview of Scion on The Car Guide