For the first time in their vast, dozen-year history, Scion will offer a — get this — sedan. Yes, Scion will make the bold, reckless move of offering what is possibly the most common body style of car in automotive history. That crunching sound you hear is new ground being broken. With a glowing blue mallet.
Scion, understanding the intense gravity of this announcement, issued a press release, inscribed on a pair of golden tablets, which were then scanned, OCR'd and placed as plaintext on their press website.
Like many others, Scion has a New Year's Resolution to debut an all-new body by spring. And not surprisingly, all eyes will be on its backside as Scion will be adding its first-ever sedan to its line-up.
The new sedan will be introduced in April at the New York International Auto Show along with the all-new Scion iM.
So, we have to wait until the New York auto show for Scion's new sedan. I'm not sure I can wait for what will most likely be (according to most reports) a rebadged and facelifted Mazda 2.
Scion's press release goes on to tell us
"With the iM hatchback and our first sedan, we're inviting drivers to re-imagine what they can accomplish with a Scion," said Scion Group Vice President Doug Murtha. "Both new models will stand out in the marketplace for their style and substance. I can confidently predict that 2015 will be an exciting year for Scion."
Yes, yes. "What they can accomplish with a Scion." Why, just imagine — these 18-34 year old go-getters can accomplish amazing things with a Scion sedan — like sticking their luggage in a compartment they can't access from the inside. Think of the possibilities! Luggage in its own compartment! Four doors! It's like they're re-inventing the car!
Seriously, Scion, sit down. Not the chair — the floor is fine. Aside from the FR-S, what do you have that's interesting anymore? I — and many others — loved the 1st gen xB, a car that took some real risks, but then everything that was great about that car was lost with the bloated, cramped 2007 redesign.
Scion needs to get back to their original goals. They should be the experimental, risk-taking division of Toyota. Toyota once had something like that, years ago, with their WiLL line of cars. The WiLL Vi and WiLL Cypha, for example, weren't everybody's cup of sake, but they were interesting, engaging designs. They were polarizing in the right way — the kinds of cars that could generate real interest and passion. That's the level of risk-taking Scion should be about.
Big daddy Toyota can play it safe, and Scion can handle the experiments, the risks, the novel stuff that can generate passion and excitement. Otherwise, why bother?
Kind of the opposite approach to, say, introducing just another small sedan.