Toyota’s sales have been blistering.
The Japanese automaker has maintained a gargantuan lead over other manufacturers in global sales. In 2024, the company sold over 9 million cars in the world, per Focus2Move. Volkswagen came in a distant second with 4.9 million vehicle sales.
But according to Chris McDonald — a sales manager at Ourisman Toyota in Richmond, Virginia, and 20-year veteran of the company — sales could have been better if the brand kept a much beloved brand.
McDonald said Toyota should have kept the Scion brand in 2016.
‘I do think they made a mistake,’ McDonald told DailyMail.com. ‘Some of those vehicles are still missed.’
Scion was Toyota’s short-lived experiment in youth-focused branding. The product lineup launched in 2003 with quirky, affordable compact cars and a no-haggle pricing model.
There were eight vehicles in the lineup’s history, most notably, its best-selling xB – a head-spinning, ultra-boxy hatchback.
And almost a decade since it was scrapped, McDonald said, customers will rush to the used lot at his dealership in Virginia to see if there are any xB models available. Especially as increasing numbers of major carmakers are continuing to cut their smaller and less pricey cars.
The boxy Scion xB was a fan-favorite hatchback
The brand peaked in 2006 but struggled after the 2008 financial crisis, making Toyota’s aggressive pricing strategy unsustainable.
Sales in 2008 reached 130,181 across the U.S. and Canada. Then, the product came crashing down, and by 2009 was selling just 57,961 vehicles.
After crashing sales, former Toyota CEO, Akio Toyoda, said the brand was in ‘no danger’ of extinction in 2011.
But by 2016, the experiment was over – Scion was axed, with some models rebadged as Toyotas. Others were scrapped.
‘This isn’t a step backward for Scion; it’s a leap forward for Toyota,’ Jim Lentz, the founding vice president of Scion, said in a statement during the brand’s closure.
But according to McDonald, the brand was ‘ahead of its time.’
He said customers often flock to the used lot at his dealership to snatch the fan-favorite xB.
‘Every time we get a trade in, its gone within the next 72 hours,’ McDonald said.
McDonald’s pro-Scion view comes as customers struggle to keep up with vehicle pricing.
Chris McDonald, a sales manager at a Toyota dealership, said he wished Toyota kept a fan-favorite brand
McDonald said high-priced, big cars are piling up on the dealership lot
Toyota’s former CEO, Akio Toyoda, previously said Scion was in ‘no danger’ of going away
Toyota got rid of the Scion brand in 2016
Scion’s tC, a two-door coupe, was one of the first vehicles in the lineup
The average new vehicle price is now over $49,000, according to Kelley Blue Book. The median yearly spend on car insurance is now $2,670.
Both prices are historic highs for the industry.
According to McDonald, this has left a huge gap in the market.
Meanwhile, major automotive brands continue to axe their small, cheap new cars.
In 2024, Nissan discontinued the Versa, Mitsubishi nixed the Mirage, and Chevy stopped producing the Malibu. All three were the smallest, least expensive cars in their respective lineups.
‘The issue is: the cars that are sitting on the lot are heavy-duty trucks, expensive SUVs, and anything that isn’t [fuel] efficient,’ he said.
‘Once the new car inventory really starts to unlock and we start to get cars people want back in the marketplace, I think you’re going to see everything move toward a normalized car market.’
In a statement to DailyMail.com, Toyota’s senior communications manager, Nathan Kokes, pointed out the brand already sells several affordable vehicles.
The company did not offer a comment on the Scion brand.
‘We offer six vehicles that start under $30K (Camry, Corolla, Corolla Cross, RAV4, Prius, GR86),’ he said.
‘Three are sedans, and two are hybrid only which makes them affordable to buy, as well as affordable to own.’
