Comparing Scion to Prius is nonesense. Scion was never intended to be a high volume brand. Look at 2013 sales (below). Prius has grown from a niche player to high volume due to market conditions (50mpg keeps money in your pocket). When all cars are electric and/hybrid do all Toyotas become a Prius? Toyota should certainly continue to refine the definition of what a Scion is.
The FR-S is working as a halo car for Scion. It stopped the giant sales slide caused by Toyotas horrible 2nd gen Scion products. The FR-S also serves as an up-sell/upgrade to TC buyers who might want something closer to a real sports car over a sporty car.
Quote:
It's looking like Toyota's Scion division has finally found its halo, the FR-S sports car. Not only did Toyota sell 2,684 FR-S cars for the month of June, but the whole five-model lineup saw a 143.1% increase in sales over the same month last year."FR-S is certainly the halo for the brand," says Bob Carter, a Toyota Division group vice president. "It is creating traffic, (and) it is creating a lot of awareness."
Scion sold 8,400 vehicles for the month, the first time it has topped 8,000 in a single month since August 2008. Back then, the brand was riding high with young Gen Y buyers on the strength of its ultra-urban xB box-on-wheels crossover.
The FR-S instantly became Scion's biggest seller even though it is by far the mini-brand's most expensive model. It starts at $24,930 before shipping fees, putting it out of reach of many of the brand's buyers who are either still in college or first jobs. The sports car with a boxer engine was co-developed with Subaru, which sells a virtually identical version as the BRZ.
http://content.usatoday.com/communit...1#.Utwt3_uIbIU
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2013 Sales results
Now try comparing Scion sales to other Niche brands, what are the thoughts about killing the ones under Scion? Why not kill off Mini, Volvo, Land Rover, Porsche, Fiat, Jaguar, Maserati, and Bently? Total sales volume is not always the sole objective.
http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2014/01...ults.html#more
Rank Make 2013 2012 Difference 2013 Market Share 2012 Market Share
#25 Scion 68,321 73,505 -7.10% 0.40% 0.50%
#26 Mini 66,502 66,123 0.60% 0.40% 0.50%
#27 Mitsubishi 62,227 57,790 7.70% 0.40% 0.40%
#28 Volvo 61,233 68,117 -10.10% 0.40% 0.50%
#29 Land Rover 50,010 43,664 14.50% 0.30% 0.30%
#30 Fiat 43,236 43,772 -1.20% 0.30% 0.30%
#31 Porsche 42,323 35,043 20.80% 0.30% 0.20%
#32 Jaguar 16,952 12,011 41.10% 0.10% 0.10%
#33 Smart 9264 10,009 -7.40% 0.10% 0.10%
#34 Suzuki 5946 25,357 -76.60% 0.10% 0.20%
#35 Maserati 4768 2730 74.70% 0.10% 0.10%
#36 Bentley 2872 2315 24.10% 0.10% 0.10%
This thread has a lot more real data than that ridiculously light TTaC article.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...ighlight=Sales