Quote:
Originally Posted by Subie
The thing is though, all the great Toyotas of the past were Toyotas: the Supra, the AE86, the Celica, the 2000GT, etc. There hasn't been a single Scion that was truly great (or even marginally so), and Toyota is having to reinvent itself and create an entirely new reputation for itself by selling the FR-S under the lackluster Scion brand. I would think that if they sold it as a Toyota and featured some of those old and great Toyotas in their advertising that the car would be a natural fit for the Toyota brand. I don't see a reason for the Scion brand to exist at all.
|
Looking at it, I've wondered the same thing.
Though technically Toyota has found a fit for it, in the Scion lineup as far as sales go. Granted it would have probably sold just as well as a Toyota, what conflicts that may have caused is beyond me. And as far as advertising, in regards to car shows and demonstrations they have in fact included the car's "heritage."
The only real difference is a demographic, which in this particular part of the U.S. (SE) you don't even really notice...as people drive cars, meaning at some point or another you're going to see someone of some age driving a scion. Though in other parts it's quite the stigma, as noted by insurance prices and impression of the brand itself...but brands change over time as we've all seen.
Rather than letting a brand die, they chose to reinvigorate it with a sports car, which currently leaned more towards the current scion than toyota (first thing you think of is a Camry or surprisingly enough a tundra). There's nothing super sporty about either brand currently (I don't really count the Tc), but a choice was made. Besides, Toyota already has a pretty lengthy list of cars in the lineup.
Toyota sells volume in the form of corollas, avalons, you name it. They're going to use that. Scion is more of a plaything to begin with, so they're toying with the sports car idea using that brand. I don't see it as a terrible idea, why mess with a good thing when if you put something people are going to want somewhere, they will in fact find it and buy it.
Who knows, maybe after a while Toyota will bring over the high spec GT version as a Toyota rather than a Scion;Though I would worry the difference in price would be semi-steep ($5k-ish minimum), which would then set the tone between the brands for that car. But as it has been mentioned before, that's doubtful.
--------------
Anyway, to be on topic. I may very well swap the badges, hell even if I got the Subaru I might do it. Just depends on what I felt I wanted. It's my car anyway, and it's simply an aesthetic...like many other mods.