The 2 New Scions: iA & iM

[Kal-El]

I still can't get over Toyota selling a Mazda with barely any changes except for the front end. Even the tail lights are the same. The interior is all Mazda 2. The wheels even look the same. They really didn't want to spend much at all.

[kimona]

I think the Scion brand should just be deleted.

[IllusionX]

The iA is the Auris oversea loaded with extras...

[CB900F2]

Agreed!... Wonder how they will market the car... Will it be Mazda quality built car, or ToyoMaz quality built car...

Originally Posted by Kal-El

I still can't get over Toyota selling a Mazda with barely any changes except for the front end. Even the tail lights are the same. The interior is all Mazda 2. The wheels even look the same. They really didn't want to spend much at all.

[Astroman]

Originally Posted by IllusionX

The iA is the Auris oversea loaded with extras...

I think you meant the iM.

[IllusionX]

The iM it is. lol

[Kal-El]

Originally Posted by Astroman

I think you meant the iM.

Which brings up another point. These new model names stink.

Everyone is going to confuse iA, iM,...And they just don't sound good when spoken.

xB & xD worked better.

[Kalispel]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

Better than the iA but still not that compelling. Not crazy about the front end.

My favorite Scion ever is still the xD. These new ones don't even look like Scions.

Toyota just fails at front-end design now it seems. What's up with the ginormous fog-light housing caverns on the iM? It's almost as bad as those on the latest Honda Civic Coup and ILX. Ughhh. I guess that I am just out of step with new car designs.

The rest of the iM looks good though - at least to me.

[Killchain]

I'd take a iM, but I'm going miss the iQ. I just love that car.

[Kal-El]

What would have made perfect sense is if Toyota had brought the Vios (Yaris sedan) over as a Scion sedan instead rebadging a Mazda. Why does a company that makes more models across every segment worldwide than anyone source out a small brand for a car. Cost savings apparently but it's shamefully done and everyone knows it.

The Vios is even more characteristic of a Scion than Mazda's totally different design language. People would pay more to have the Vios here.

[Flammable]

Originally Posted by Killchain

I'd take a iM, but I'm going miss the iQ. I just love that car.

Has Toyota shelved the idea of putting the Mazda powertrain into the Yaris?

[Kalispel]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

What would have made perfect sense is if Toyota had brought the Vios (Yaris sedan) over as a Scion sedan instead rebadging a Mazda. Why does a company that makes more models across every segment worldwide than anyone source out a small brand for a car. Cost savings apparently but it's shamefully done and everyone knows it.

The Vios is even more characteristic of a Scion than Mazda's totally different design language. People would pay more to have the Vios here.

I certainly like the design of the Vios/Yaris better than the new iA, minus the over-the-top rear wing spoiler on that Vios, lol (give me a more-conservative trunk lip-spoiler any day).

Automakers baffle and frustrate me when it comes to international/global markets and how they treat one versus the other when it comes to various models/trims. The USA always seems to get the short end of the stick by a huge margin - especially from Japanese companies.

[Superfly]

Originally Posted by Kal-El

I still can't get over Toyota selling a Mazda with barely any changes except for the front end. Even the tail lights are the same. The interior is all Mazda 2. The wheels even look the same. They really didn't want to spend much at all.

Shocks me too. Seems like Toyota is just looking to minimize costs on a car they doubt will sell in large numbers. What really baffles me is that the upcoming Yaris is also supposed to share Mazda 2 underpinnings, so does that mean that dealerships will have the iA and the Yaris as the exact same car except on is a hatch and the other a sedan? Are they going to look exactly the same except for the front fascia? That is product overlap to the nth degree and foolish. Lazy. Just lazy.

Originally Posted by kimona

I think the Scion brand should just be deleted.

It needs to. So many members have posted suggestions about what Toyota could do to the Scion brand from funky Soul-fighters to hot hatches and yet we get a watered down Auris rebadge and a Mazda 2 clone. We aren't even getting the more powerful engines that Scion usually had in their cars. It is a freaking disaster.

To be honest, Toyota is starting to lose me. I am not seeing anything coming out that really sparks my interest. The BMW co-op is going to be stupid expensive and completely irrelevant to me, not to mention it will probably mostly be a BMW product. The new Tacoma is ok but will undoubtedly be priced in the low to mid-30s for anything beyond a RWD extended cab. The Prius redesign seems to be going nowhere and that might be a good thing seeing as how Toyota's designers seem to be modeling everything off catfish and carp. I don't get it, I thought Toyota was supposed to be headed back to its roots but it seems like we are just getting more half-assed redesigns and co-operative products than anything else.

[Jcp123]

IM isn't that bad, wish Toyota (and everyone else, for that matter) would just grow a pair and get hatches and wagons back here. Looks like Toyota wants to hide behind the rotting corpse of Scion to creep back into that market. I'll replace my wifey's Kia with a minivan first, and in about a year to two years I'll be replacing the Echo...I have candidates but a good wagon would come to the fore as my choice...if it can be bought with a manual.