Ladies and gentlemen, this is what desperation looks like in an advertisement: girls eating donuts and drinking milk in a Scion iQ. The ad says nothing about the car, nothing about how to use it, or why you should by it. In fact, all the ad proves is that the iQ is more novelty amusement park ride rather than car. More Tilt-A-Whirl than Mini and 500 competitor. But, for all I know it’s just to build “buzz” around the brand. So, the jokes on all of us as 50 year old “social media manager” in jeans and a blazer laughs while counting his money.
Plus, if you don’t like the girls in bikinis, there are 3 more versions with different people eating donuts and going round and round in an iQ. That means, sometime, somewhere, a person with more letters behind their name than most doctors, sat down in front of Toyota executives with a straight face, and presented this as a way to advertise the iQ. Then, Toyota agreed and said, “Thats great, but can you do 3 more versions?”
Almost worse than the J.Lo Fiat 500 ad. Almost. The FR-S can’t come soon enough to bring some real credibility to the Scion line.
With Toyota’s new sports car arriving in dealers soon, it’s time to showcase the car that served as inspiration for the new Scion FR-S: the Toyota AE-86. If the Scion FR-S can have half the impact the AE-86 has on a generation of car enthusiasts, it will be a smashing success.
This is a very nice change for Scion! Now the brand has some muscle. From Auto News.com:
OYAMA, Japan — Toyota President Akio Toyoda unveiled his company’s new 200-horsepower rear-wheel-drive sporty car before thousands of fans at a Formula One race track today in his bid to spice up a brand better known for bland but utilitarian offerings such as the Corolla and Camry.
The car, to be called the Toyota 86 in Japan and sold as the Scion FR-S in the United States, has been in the works for five years and received close scrutiny from Toyoda, who is banking on the car as an affordable halo model to burnish the company’s performance credentials.
The 86 hits a top speed of 142 mph and can do 0-62 in 6 seconds. But raw speed is not the goal, says chief engineer Tetsuya Tada. The model’s true mission is multifold:
Normally, scans from an automaker’s internal parts catalog would not make headline news; unless they showed a hotly anticipated new car that is. Scans from Modellista, a Toyota parts magazine, seem to show the brand new Toyota FT-86. Like those of bigfoot, these grainy images show hope that the car is out there, and will not be bloated up and dumbed down for production. Toyota has not commented on the leak, but the production version of this car should be seen at the Tokyo International Auto Show next month.
Scion, the “Youth Brand” of Toyota, has priced their newest car for the American market, the iQ. The Scion IQ is set to hit our shores with a price tag of $15,995. The iQ is Scion’s version of the Toyota iQ sold in foreign markets.
Personally, like the Smart car, I don’t really see the point of this car at all. People buy city cars for style and/or frugality. The iQ posses none of these traits.
First, the iQ looks like the design they threw away while making the Toyota Yaris, which is no looker itself. Short, squat, and wide, the iQ is the exact opposite of how to make a pretty car. In addition, it is a Scion. This may be a plus if you consume bucketfuls of energy drinks per day, and wear flat-brimmed baseball caps, but if you are an actual adult, the Scion badge is a detriment. The iQ’s Quasimodo looks especially come to light when sat alongside the Mini Cooper and Fiat 500, its European competition, who have won a case full of international design awards.
Secondly, it is not frugal in the slightest. At $15,995 it is nearly the most expensive in its segment outside the better equipped and better looking Ford Fiesta hatch (the Fiesta sedan is cheaper than the iQ). The Mazda2, Hyundai Accent, and Fiat 500 all undercut it in price and all offer either looks (Fiat), value (Hyundai with its 10 year warranty), or driving performance (Mazda). Not to mention all these cars are larger and will not be mistaken for windup toys when pulling up to someone’s house for a first date. The most glaring flaw is that across the sales floor, Toyota offers the Yaris for around 13K, which is also larger and at least boring to look at instead of outright atrocious.
Finally, you may think that it gets fantastic gas mileage because of its small size and light weight (around 2100 pounds). Wrong again. The iQ gets only 37mpg highway. All of the mentioned competition, except the Yaris, gets more miles out of a drop of gas. Plus, The Yaris only gives up one mpg on the highway to the iQ while also being larger.
At the end of the day, there is no point to the iQ. It is a three year old, warmed over Toyota with a Scion badge that is not cheap, not frugal, and not pretty. The urban commuters the iQ wants to attract are too focused on fashion and badge snobbery to even make a passing glance at a Scion. Fuel misers will go right for more efficient offerings, and people shopping on price won’t buy it either. In fact, Scion’s targeted youth clientele may not buy it either since nothing about a rebadged Toyota that looks like a melted ice cream scoop screams youthful exuberance. The iQ is just another sign that the Scion brand is floundering for life. The car enthusiast’s only hope for the Scion brand is the upcoming FT-86.
