What's a Scion tD? Allow us to explain. Scion is on the press conference schedule for the 2009 New York Auto Show. And with the way things are going in the industry these days, even Toyota isn't going to pay up to have a press conference for the xB 11.0 Special Edition.
No, a full blown press conference is more likely reserved for an all-new model. But which one?
Well, current Scion VP Jack Hollis told Automotive News last month, "Within the next two years, we will have a replacement tC" coupe.
The time frame seems a little long, but we went digging anyways. The U.S. Patent and Trademark website makes things easy, and when you're looking for the next-generation tC it doesn't take much imagination to figure out where Scion might be going with the naming convention.
Sure enough, we found a Toyota trademark for the name "tD". Does it guarantee that's the name? Nope. Does it sound considerably more marketable than tB? Yep.
The only question left now is what kind of coupe it'll be. Let's hope it takes after the Fuse, and not the Hako.
machwon23 says:
09:57 AM, 03/17/09
Not a good name. Just imagine the jokes being a Scion tD (StD). Wouldn't want to take a ride in that!!
compliance says:
10:43 AM, 03/17/09
seriously. They can't sell a car called S.tD
drive571 says:
11:03 AM, 03/17/09
Funny you should mention that... the public health field has been calling them STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) for a few years now, which added some humor to the hot WRX (especially when Subaru changed the name from STi to all-caps STI in '08).
autoburetor says:
11:05 AM, 03/17/09
Scion has already demonstrated some odd marketing strategies... Imagine them using catch phrases like "Get Infected" or "Who's gonna catch it next?" It'd bring a whole new meaning to viral marketing. (c;
samjpatrick says:
05:32 PM, 03/17/09
Taking into consideration the Scion naming system, I would expect a new coupe to be named tE. The logic being xA & xB, then the tC came, then xD replaced xA. They could just go for MkII of the tC like they did with the now-bloated xB. However, I could see them wanting their new model to catch on like an StD!
cwc1 says:
05:45 PM, 03/17/09
A while back, I read that originally, the tC was going to be an xC, which would have made sense with Scion's naming convention. But Volvo didn't quite like that, as they thought Toyota having an xC would be too close to the Volvo XC90. So Toyota went with tC.
After years of seemingly everyone trying to alphanumericize their vehicle names to follow the top European makes to the point where they're almost meaningless, I think it's about time for someone to start a new (old) trend - how about giving cars real names again?? They could call it retro!
rk2469 says:
07:51 AM, 04/ 8/09
I hope tD comes with bigger sized airbags. Hopefully, D-sized air bags.
Sorry, I had to make this comment.
;-)