Toyota’s Scion Brand Ponders Upmarket Move

Toyota Motor Corp. is studying how to revive its stalled Scion youth brand, including a possible shift to entry-level luxury models, Automotive News reports.

Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota operations in North America, tells the newspaper that company planners debated where to position the Scion brand as it was being launched a decade ago. One view was to enter the emerging market for small luxury vehicles priced at $25,000 or more.

Toyota opted to aim at young, first-time buyers with stylish models priced as low as $13,000. But model prices have been creeping up since then. AN notes that the Scion FR-S coupe unveiled at the Geneva auto show last month carries a sticker price above $25,000.

Scion has sold more than 900,000 vehicles since its introduction. But annual volume, which peaked at 173,000 vehicles in 2006, was only 73,500 last year.

Scion Vice President Doug Murtha tells AN the brand is "going to be in trouble" if it stands still. But Lentz says the notion of moving the entire Scion brand upmarket at this point is "not a widely held view" within the company.

Toyota began signaling a year ago that it would unveil a new strategy for Scion. But the announcement expected during last week's New York auto show debuts didn't occur.