Well, it was a nice run while it lasted.
After nearly 13 years of building its brand and appealing to young drivers, Scion has announced that it's ending its line of cars and will transition back to being absorbed by its parent company, Toyota.
"This isn't a step backward for Scion — it's a leap forward for Toyota. Scion has allowed us to fast track ideas that would have been challenging to test through the Toyota network," Jim Lentz, founding vice president of Scion and now CEO of Toyota Motor North America, said in the company's press release statement Wednesday. "I was there when we established Scion and our goal was to make Toyota and our dealers stronger by learning how to better attract and engage young customers. I'm very proud because that's exactly what we have accomplished."
Since its inception as a separate brand under Toyota in 2003, Scion went on to sell upwards of one million cars, with 70 percent of those models made by customers new to Toyota and 50 percent under 35 years old, showing how the line struck a chord with young drivers, especially those who thrive off personalization and features.
As part of Wednesday's announcement, Toyota said the decision to end Scion as its own separate brand came in response to customers' needs. The largest automaker in the world says that young drivers want fun vehicles but those that are also practical, and that Scion helped Toyota bridge that gap to its parent company.
That being said, Toyota's line of vehicles have evolved to touting better handling and style that appeal to young drivers, perhaps creating less of a need for Scion in the crowded automotive space.
