Toyota Plans to Revamp Scion Lineup

2013 Toyota Auris (Credit: © Toyota)

Things are a-changing for the Scion lineup in 2015. Toyota launched the brand back in 2003 as a low-cost and hip line of cars aimed at younger car shoppers. Things didn’t exactly go as planned as older car buyers were attracted to the low cost of the Scion models and their promise of easy entry and exit that is easy on the hips. Instead of giving Toyota a more youthful appeal, and allow the automaker to experiment with cutting-edge vehicle designs, the brand has become rather stagnant in many respects.

2015 will mark the beginning of some big changes, and maybe even the turnaround of Scion. Automotive News claims to have all the details, stating that the xB and xD are both history. A version of the Toyota Auris will take the xB’s place in the lineup, while a hatchback based on the same platform as the Mazda2 will supplant the xD. Also kicking the bucket after 2014 is the iQ, the odd little car that was positioned to fight the odd little Smart Fortwo. Sales have seriously lagged for the iQ recently, and Toyota must feel there isn’t enough market demand to justify reworking the model.

The fact that the tC is rumored to be destined for a redesign in 2016 isn’t shocking, unlike the news that Toyota plans to incorporate a compact crossover vehicle that is based on the Corolla.

Whether the new models will really appeal to the youth market remains to be seen. The Scion FR-S has created waves and breathed new life into the brand, and so new life will be breathed into it for the 2017 model year as a second generation of the car is rumored to launch then.