#NAIAS Today at the Detroit auto show, Toyota showed off its FT-CH Compact Hybrid that everyone knew was coming and announced that there would soon be a Prius family of hybrids in America. This smaller, lighter, cheaper and even more fuel-efficient five-door may be part of that clan of green machines. Again, no big surprise.
But after the press conference Inside Line asked Toyota President Jim Lentz if Scion would finally get its first hybrid, which would no doubt help Toyota meet its goal of selling 1,000,000 hybrids globally in a 12-month span (last year Toyota and Lexus sold 530,000 hybrids).
After a sizable pause, Lentz answered awkwardly, "Not at this point to announce."
Some people might say that's a yes.
Categories: Concept Vehicles,Detroit Auto Show,Future Vehicles,Hatchbacks,Hybrids,Scion,Toyota
Curious whether the new 2010 Honda Accord has an optional neck massager? How about the tow rating on the Ford F-150? And what about those European cars, they're always adding some new totally nonessential technological "feature."
Now there's an easy way to find out. Our 2010 Buyer's Guide lists every model change from every manufacturer. From colors to options to full redesigns, it's all there.
2010 Buyer's Guide
Categories: Acura,Aston Martin,Audi,BMW,Bentley,Bugatti,Buick,Cadillac,Chevrolet,Chrysler,Dodge,Ferrari,Fiat,Ford,GMC,General Motors,HUMMER,Honda,Hyundai,Infiniti,Jaguar,Jeep,Kia,Lamborghini,Land Rover,Lexus,Lincoln,Lotus,MINI,Maserati,Maybach,Mazda,Mercedes-Benz,Mercury,Mitsubishi,Nissan,Pontiac,Porsche,Rolls-Royce,SMART,Saab,Saturn,Scion,Subaru,Suzuki,Tesla Motors,Toyota,Volkswagen,Volvo
OK, it's not quite the pickup truck many people think Scion should build, but it's a start. Designed and built by Advanced Design Fabricators, this former xB received a rather extensive exterior chop to go along with a mild engine build and the requisite interior revamp/audio upgrade.
The engine received new cams, valves, valve springs, headers and ported heads. And since you might need a little extra punch when the bed fills up with...uh something, they threw in a Nitrous dual stage fogger system. A heavy-duty TRD clutch sends the power to a limited slip differential up front which should have its hands full with the 20-inch wheels and Toyo Proxes tires.
2009 SEMA Show
Categories: Concept Vehicles,SEMA Show,Scion,Trucks,Tuners and Modifications
This long list of events is your chance to throw away your inhibitions and lay down some rubber. Some of the track days make you bring your own vehicle, while others provide you with a machine to pilot. Either way, find the right event and brush up on your driving skills by booking some track time at the links below.
Continue reading Hit Up the Track With These Events.
Categories: Audi,BMW,Bentley,Chevrolet,Chrysler,Consumer Track Events,Dodge,Ferrari,Ford,Infiniti,Jaguar,Jeep,Lamborghini,Land Rover,Lotus,MINI,Maserati,Mazda,Mitsubishi,Porsche,Saab,Scion,Subaru,Toyota
Speculation that Toyota would pull the trigger and bring the Smart-fighting iQ microcar to the US as a Scion may have just come one step closer to fruition in Death Valley. You'll recall that a Scion iQ concept, based directly on the European-market Toyota iQ, debuted at the 2009 New York Auto Show.
This week our photographers caught a Toyota test group putting a Toyota-badged iQ through rigorous hot-weather tests, climbing mountains in the 120-degree heat.
Although the iQ is already on sale in Japan and Europe, the Toyota engineers were strangely protective of the test car, covering the car when they stopped for lunch, and using their support vehicles as shields during fuel stops. When a test car wasn't at the ready, engineers were quick to step in front of the iQ when at rest, all in an effort to prevent any clean shots.
More details and another photo after the jump.
Continue reading Spy Photos: Toyota iQ, AKA 2011 Scion iQ.
Categories: Future Vehicles,Scion,Toyota
Maybe. Yoshimi Inaba, the new head of Toyota's North American operations under Akio Toyoda
, is taking a hard look
at the Toyota, Scion and Lexus brands in the United States
"I'll be careful to choose my words," Inaba chuckled to reporters today, "but I can see standing on the sidelines that there is not enough excitement in our vehicles."
Inaba further said that he thinks there's a strong business case to be made for Scion despite flagging sales -- but it will require a more diverse product line and more frequent updates.
Inaba will even reconsider what sort of role Lexus can and should occupy in the U.S. Toyota's luxury brand has been especially hard hit during the recession.
"We have to figure out what is Lexus here in the U.S. ... and what is the next phase of Lexus," Inaba said, adding that doesn't necessarily mean selling more than the current 300,000 a year.
As for profitability, that might not happen when the current fiscal year ends March 30, 2010. A very slim profit might come the following year, Inaba said, provided market conditions improve.
Auto Observer: Toyota's Inaba Looks To Spice Up Models, Revive Scion, Reshape Lexus, Turn a Profit
Categories: Lexus,Manufacturers,Scion,Toyota
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has conducted its latest round of crash testing, this time for small two-door coupes.
"We're often asked about the crash test performance of 2-door cars," says David Zuby, Institute senior vice president for vehicle research. "Design and structural differences mean we can't automatically apply our test results of 4-door cars to 2-door versions of the same models. We decided to do these tests to see how the 2-doors stack up in protecting people in the 3 most common kinds of crashes."
Five cars were tested: Chevrolet Cobalt, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Scion tC and Volvo C30. The Focus and the C30 came away with top pick awards for their performance.
"Overall the results for 2-door cars are good news," Zuby says. "All but one earn good ratings in our frontal offset test. Only 2 of the 5 earn this rating for protection in side crashes, but none of the 5 earns anything less than an acceptable rating. This is pretty good, considering how demanding the side test is. It simulates being struck by a pickup or SUV."
IIHS: Crash Tests of Two-door Cars
Categories: Chevrolet,Coupes,Ford,Honda,Scion,Volkswagen
Scion has announced that its last limited-production vehicle of 2009, the xD Release Series 2.0, will hit showroom floors at the end of the month. Pricing on the five-door hatch starts at $15,320 for the manual tranny and $16,120 for the xD with the automatic.
You're stuck with Electric Wasabi (that makes me hungry for sushi) paint for the RS 2.0, and inside, the vehicle has four-in-one interior lights to set the mood and a cool Pioneer touch screen head unit with a rear-view camera. "Release Series 2.0" is also illuminated in the door sills.
For another $285, Scion will throw in a spoiler already dressed in Wasabi paint to spice up the xD's rear end.
Categories: Hatchbacks,Scion,Tuners and Modifications
If you have never driven on a race track, you should. If your skills are weak, track time will make them better. And if you think you're an undiscovered Tony Stewart, well then, get out there and prove it. The list that follows after the jump gives some ideas where you might try your luck both on the road and in the dirt.
Continue reading Looking for Track Time? Find It Here.
Categories: Audi,BMW,Bentley,Chevrolet,Chrysler,Consumer Track Events,Dodge,Ferrari,Ford,Infiniti,Jaguar,Jeep,Lamborghini,Land Rover,Lexus,Lotus,MINI,Maserati,Mazda,Porsche,Saab,Scion,Subaru,Toyota
#NYIAS The Scion iQ is the best and most interesting Scion concept we've seen since the original bbX.
Granted, you have to look past all the oversize fascias, skirts and "bubble flares" that Five Axis (a Huntington Beach, California-based aftermarket company specializing in Toyotas) has added to the New York showcar. But if you do that, there's a Toyota iQ underneath. And in marked contrast to the overgrown, current-generation Scion xB and the rather hideous Hako concept, the iQ takes the Scion brand back to where it started: small for small's sake and styling that's "with it" without pandering to perceived Generation-Y whims.
Mike Michels, communications director for Toyota, tells us the company will make a decision whether to import the Toyota iQ to the U.S. as the Scion iQ before the end of the 2009 calendar year. Since the iQ was designed for world consumption, minimal modifications will be necessary to meet U.S. crash standards.
Curiously, it might not be the entry-level car of the Scion family. "The point on this wouldn't be cheap, it would be cool," Michels told us. "I wouldn't say that it's even intended to be the least expensive car in the Scion lineup."
More photos and details after the jump. Update: Video added after the jump.
Continue reading 2009 New York Auto Show: Scion iQ Concept.
Categories: Concept Vehicles,Hatchbacks,New York Auto Show,Scion
Looks like we're going to have to wait to see the tD coupe. Scion just announced that its 2009 New York Auto Show press conference will feature a micro sub-compact concept car. Man that sounds small.
The description can only mean one thing: the iQ, Toyota's answer to the Smart Fortwo. Already on sale in Europe and Japan, the iQ seats four in a pinch and measures just under ten feet long. Sounds like a tough sell in the U.S., but Scion seems like the right brand to give it a try.
First Drive: Toyota iQ
Categories: Concept Vehicles,Coupes,New York Auto Show,Scion,Toyota
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.
Categories: Coupes,Future Vehicles,New York Auto Show,Scion
Yes, even the mighty Toyota got killed in January.
Regardless of division or model, the numbers were dismal across the board. Some highlights follow after the jump.
Continue reading January Sales: Toyota Down 34.4%.
Categories: Lexus,Scion,Toyota
Few automakers had a positive 2008, but Scion didn't suffer as much as most. Its market share actually increased by one-tenth of a point last year and although overall sales were down 12.5%, the industry as a whole averaged an 18% drop.
Of course, Scion would love a little help in 2009. Jack Hollis, Vice President of Scion, told AutoObserver, "A fourth product would be fantastic," he said. "It's our company's belief we need to expand our lineup."
So what product might that be? Scion has shown several concepts over the last couple of years. There was last year's horrific Hako concept and the considerably more palatable Fuse coupe of 2006. Both concepts made their debuts at the New York Auto Show, so don't be surprised to see another, more production-ready concept at this year's show in April.
AutoObserver: Scion not scorched by 2008 but wants fourth model
Categories: Auto Industry,Concept Vehicles,Coupes,Future Vehicles,New York Auto Show,Scion
