Scion means heir, and Toyota built it in 2003 as a test laboratory for younger buyers. From August 2016 its cars wore Toyota badges instead.
- Country
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Japan - Active
- 2003 to 2016
Toyota’s test lab with a badge
Scion was never meant to be a normal car brand. Toyota set it up in 2003 as a test laboratory, a division of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. built to reach younger buyers with products and processes that stood apart from the crowd. If an idea worked at Scion, Toyota could borrow it.
The brand was unveiled at the New York Auto Show on 27 March 2002, more than a year before the first car went on sale. Its first two models, the xA and the boxy xB, were shown at the 2003 Greater Los Angeles Auto Show. The xB was based on the bbX concept.
Then came a slow, careful rollout. Scion went on sale in California on 9 June 2003 and stayed there for nine months. On 3 February 2004 it started spreading east, beginning with the Gulf States, the Southeast and the East Coast, and the national launch followed in June 2004 alongside a third car, the tC sports coupe.
An heir to the family name
The name says a lot about where the brand sat. A scion is a descendant or heir, as Ward’s put it in May 2002 when it described Scion as Toyota’s third brand. The naming agency Lexicon Branding, which says it created the name, explains it as a descendant of an influential family. In this case the family was Toyota, with Lexus as the older sibling.
A badge made by a youth agency
The Scion look came from a young studio. Fresh Machine, a Los Angeles design firm in its second year of business, won the account in September 2001. According to its March 2002 release, it worked with The Rebel Organization, an affiliate of URB Magazine, to create the Scion identity, including the logo and the badge placed on the cars. The two teams were given the name first and built the look from there.
Fresh Machine also built the scion.com website and the screens for Scion’s dealer kiosks. Brian Bolain, then national manager of the Scion team, said the firm understood the brand’s vision and wanted to represent it in a way that resonated with the target buyer.
What the badge’s shape is meant to represent is another matter. Toyota’s own fact sheet and press material don’t explain it, so any story you read about hidden symbols in the Scion emblem is a theory, not the maker’s explanation.
Mono-spec cars and pure pricing
Scion sold cars differently. Toyota lists the experiments it ran there: fixed “pure” pricing, mono-spec cars, online purchasing, prepaid maintenance and limited release series editions. The line-up was always short.
Landmark Scions, year by year
- 2003: xB. The box on wheels that launched the brand in California. A second generation followed in 2008, and production ended in December 2015.
- 2003: xA. The xB’s launch partner, a subcompact five-door sold until 2008, when the xD replaced it.
- 2004: tC. The sports coupe that arrived with the national launch. It outlived the brand by a few weeks: production ended in August 2016 with a final release series edition.
- 2011: iQ. Came to market in October 2011 and left the line-up in 2015.
- 2013: FR-S. A sports car that became a Toyota from the 2017 model year.
- 2015: iA. Scion’s first sedan, introduced in the same year as the iM five-door hatchback.
On 3 February 2016 Toyota announced that Scion would transition to Toyota. From August 2016 the FR-S, iA and iM were badged as Toyotas, and the C-HR, first shown as a Scion concept at the 2015 L.A. Auto Show, joined the Toyota line-up instead. Jim Lentz, one of the Toyota executives who learned the trade at Scion, summed it up: “This isn’t a step backward for Scion; it’s a leap forward for Toyota.” Curious how other badges are born? Read how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
What does the name Scion mean?
A scion is a descendant or heir. Lexicon Branding, the agency that says it created the name, describes it as a descendant of an influential family, fitting for a brand born from Toyota.
Who designed the Scion logo?
According to a 2002 release from Fresh Machine, the Los Angeles firm created the Scion logo and car badge together with The Rebel Organization, an affiliate of URB Magazine.
When did Scion start and end?
Toyota established Scion in 2003, and it went on sale in California on 9 June 2003 before a national launch in 2004. Toyota announced the end of the brand in February 2016, and from August 2016 the remaining models were badged as Toyotas.
What happened to Scion cars after the brand closed?
The FR-S, iA and iM carried on as Toyotas from August 2016, the tC ended production that month, and service stayed with Toyota dealer service departments.
The Torrance test lab report
- Founded
- 2003
- Country
- Japan
- Headquarters
- Torrance, California, United States
- Parent company
- Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. (Toyota)
- Current emblem
- The Scion badge created in 2002 by Fresh Machine and The Rebel Organization, used until 2016
- Known for
- One-price, mono-spec cars like the boxy xB and the tC coupe
- Status
- Defunct
