Scion was Toyota’s youth-oriented experiment, built around small, affordable and customizable cars sold in the United States. The brand offered hatchbacks, coupes and sedans before Toyota folded it back into its main lineup in 2016. Here are the eight models Americans could buy before the brand closed.
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1. Scion xA: Launch Hatchback
The xA served as the brand’s launch hatchback, and the 2004 xA was rated at 103 to 108 hp with 32 mpg city and 38 highway, depending on the transmission. Wikipedia’s brand sales table credits the model with 98,371 sales in the US and Canada from 2003 to 2009.
Those fuel economy numbers gave the xA a frugal, low-cost pitch aimed at young shoppers who had never bought a new car. The model ended after 2009 with fewer than a hundred thousand sales across the two countries, a modest total that still helped establish the small-car template for the rest of the lineup.
2. Scion xB: Boxy Bestseller
The first-generation xB, launched for 2003, made 108 hp, but the 2008 xB’s 2.4-liter engine produced 158 hp and 162 lb-ft of torque, according to Cars.com. That is roughly a 50-hp gain between the two generations of the boxy wagon.
The bigger four-cylinder changed the character of the xB from an economy runabout into a quicker everyday hauler. The redesign also marked the most significant mechanical shift the model saw during its time wearing the Scion badge, and it kept the distinctive upright body that had made the first generation recognizable.
3. Scion tC: Sporty Coupe
For 2011 the all-new tC coupe received a 2.5-liter four-cylinder generating 180 horsepower, 19 more than the previous model, as Scion announced at the New York auto show in 2010.
The tC served as the brand’s sporty anchor, and the jump from roughly 161 to 180 hp gave the coupe a clear performance edge over its predecessor. Across the whole run, Toyota sold 1,092,675 Scion-badged cars from 2003 through the end of 2015, according to The Truth About Cars, and Toyota announced on February 3, 2016 that the marque would transition into Toyota.
4. Scion xD: Cheap Commuter
The xD was a small five-door hatchback with 128 hp and fuel economy of 27 mpg city and 33 highway. Its US sales history tells a story of fading demand: 27,665 sold in 2008, then only 7,377 by 2014.
Model year 2014 was the last for the xD, and the sales figures show the hatchback losing ground steadily after its 2008 high. Annual volume fell by roughly three-quarters from its peak, a decline that shows how thin demand had become for the brand’s older small cars by the time Toyota began planning the end of the marque.
5. Scion iQ: Tiny Four-Seater
Billed as the world’s smallest four-passenger vehicle, the Scion iQ measured just 120.1 inches long, according to Scion’s announcement at the New York auto show in 2010. The same release introduced the new tC, and the iQ was sold in the US as the Scion version of the Toyota iQ.
The pitch was easy city parking and low running costs for drivers who wanted a minimal footprint. A body that short leaves little room behind the rear seats, so the iQ worked best as a commuter or second car rather than a family vehicle, and it remained a niche choice.
6. Scion FR-S: Rear-Drive Fun
The 2013 FR-S, a rear-drive sports coupe, started at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $24,200 and delivered 200 hp and 151 lb-ft of torque, according to Scion’s pricing release in March 2012.
That combination of moderate power and a price near the bottom of the sports-coupe market gave the brand a genuine enthusiast car. It stood apart from the commuter-focused hatchbacks that made up most of the lineup, and it showed that the marque could appeal to buyers who cared about driving feel as well as price, with 200 hp coming at a starting price of just $24,200.
7. Scion iA: Mazda in Disguise
The iA, a sedan based on the Mazda2, sold 7,605 units in 2015, its only year as a Scion. The iA and iM together drew 70 percent first-time new-car buyers, The Truth About Cars reported after Toyota announced the end of the brand.
That share of first-time buyers matched the young audience the brand had been created to attract. The iA arrived at the very end of the run, so its single model year contributed only a small slice of the 1,092,675 total, but it left a successor that Toyota continued selling under its own name.
8. Scion iM: Final Hatchback
The iM hatchback carried a 137-hp 1.8-liter engine and, according to Wikipedia’s model entry, sold 5,097 units in the United States in 2015 before it became the Corolla iM.
The rebadge gave the car a second life under the Toyota name once the brand closed. As one of the last two models added to the lineup alongside the iA, the iM closed the story of a marque that began with the xA and xB more than a decade earlier, and its 2015 total was smaller than the iA’s year of sales.
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