The 2 New Scions: iA & iM

[Kal-El]

The new Scion iA sedan and iM 5 door hatch will be unveiled March 31st at the New York Auto Show. Toyota has released these 2 teasers ahead of the show.

http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/750x422/quality/95/http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/339/565/8/S3395658/slug/l/2015-nyias-scion-ia-teaser-001-1.jpg

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[IllusionX]

I was just taking about this on the Canadian sub-forum

[Septembersrain]

That iM looks really sweet.

[kimona]

The iM is the Toyota Corolla hatchback or Toyota Corolla Auris everywhere else. It's been around for a long time, and is a decent little car. I wish they'd just bring it in as a Toyota Corolla and make it available in bare bones, for example, Toyota Corolla L hatchback.

[bronsin]

ECHO is looking better and better!

[nookandcrannycar]

I wish they'd just bring it in as a Toyota Corolla and make it available in bare bones, for example, Toyota Corolla L hatchback.

:thumbsup:

Especially an otherwise bare bones Corolla L hatchback with the 6-speed manual from the S :biggrin:.

[Thirty-Nine]

Meh.

I will reserve final meh for when I see full pics.

[Flammable]

The new Scion iA sedan and iM 5 door hatch will be unveiled March 31st at the New York Auto Show. Toyota has released these 2 teasers ahead of the show.

http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/750x422/quality/95/http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/339/565/8/S3395658/slug/l/2015-nyias-scion-ia-teaser-001-1.jpg

http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/750x422/quality/95/http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/339/565/9/S3395659/slug/l/2015-nyias-scion-im-teaser-001-1.jpgWon't the 5 door Scion hatch compete with the Yaris?

[Kalispel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsNrsi-jGlw

Not sure is that is the way the iA will really look (seems like a rendered Mazda2 sedan there on YouTube with the iA front design), but that gaping front maw is just as obnoxious as the one on the 2015 Yaris - which does make it a fitting 2016 "Yaris Sedan" in the Canadian market I guess. :laugh: Still, like the 2015 yaris, the look isn't as horrible as it is just polarizing and over-the-top.

The iA looks poised to be another car that I would have to buy in black just to tone down that crazy sci-fi front end. :brokenheart:

Overall, it definitely does have that Mazda2 sedan look to it though - which is a good thing.

[kimona]

^^^ That iA sheetmetal design is trademark Mazda! And they're passing it off as a Toyota/Scion? Fail.

[Kalispel]

Won't the 5 door Scion hatch compete with the Yaris?

No more than the defunct Toyota Matrix did. The iM is a bigger car, in a different market segment - and probably around the price of a tC.

[Kalispel]

^^^ That iA sheetmetal design is trademark Mazda! And they're passing it off as a Toyota/Scion? Fail.

Well, the iA is being built on the 2016 Mazda2 sedan platform, and being built by Mazda for Toyota in Mexico alongside the Mazda2, so I'm betting the only real visual differences will be the front and rear bumpers, headlights, taillights, and alloy wheels (though those do look like the Mazda2 alloys, lol) - so they can both save design/productions costs across-the-board.

[Flammable]

No more than the defunct Toyota Matrix did. The iM is a bigger car, in a different market segment - and probably around the price of a tC.Ahh the ole Matrix. When I was looking for my Yaris SE back in 2012, our local Toyota dealership only had two Yarises (or is that Yari for plural LOL)on the lot, a white three door base model and a red LE five door. My wife did not want red at all and the three door just wasn't as practical, neither were they the SE model we wanted. The salesman started pushing Matrix really hard and I said that we wanted a Yaris not a Matrix. Finally found an SE up state that we were able to buy. :smile:

[KingForADay]

A little too egg-shaped from what I can tell in that video.

[kimona]

iA: Just seems strange for Mazda to share its new trademark sheet metal and grille design with a competing brand.

[Kal-El]

http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/750x422/quality/95/http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/340/765/6/S3407656/slug/l/2016-scion-ia-07-1.jpg

http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/750x422/quality/95/http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/340/765/8/S3407658/slug/l/2016-scion-ia-09-1.jpg

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I'm not at all impressed. An uglier version of a Mazda 2 is not what Scion needs. This is just going to water down the brand. The brand built on being distinctly different comes along with a rebadged model from a competitor?

The profile from a 9 year old Hyundai Elantra doesn't help either. I hate that wavy profile.

[Kalispel]

More pictures of the new Scion iA and its awful mad catfish face front grill. Why Toyota, why?

http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2016-scion-ia/#image-6

:cry:

The tail end looks decent enough though, as does the side profile to a lesser degree - since it basically just sticks to its Mazda2 sedan lineage (which isn't sold in the USA, except as a stripped-down hatchback).

Not saying much, but it still looks better than the fugly new Corolla (especially the S trim).

[Kal-El]

http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/750x422/quality/95/http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/340/701/0/S3407010/slug/l/2016-scion-im-07-1.jpg
http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/750x422/quality/95/http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/340/700/8/S3407008/slug/l/2016-scion-im-05-1.jpg

http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/750x422/quality/95/http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/340/702/9/S3407029/slug/l/2016-scion-im-23-1.jpg

Better than the iA but still not that compelling. Not crazy about the front end.

My favorite Scion ever is still the xD. These new ones don't even look like Scions.

[Kal-El]

I still can't get over Toyota selling a Mazda with barely any changes except for the front end. Even the tail lights are the same. The interior is all Mazda 2. The wheels even look the same. They really didn't want to spend much at all.

[kimona]

I think the Scion brand should just be deleted.

[IllusionX]

The iA is the Auris oversea loaded with extras...

[CB900F2]

Agreed!... Wonder how they will market the car... Will it be Mazda quality built car, or ToyoMaz quality built car...

I still can't get over Toyota selling a Mazda with barely any changes except for the front end. Even the tail lights are the same. The interior is all Mazda 2. The wheels even look the same. They really didn't want to spend much at all.

[Astroman]

The iA is the Auris oversea loaded with extras...

I think you meant the iM.

[IllusionX]

The iM it is. lol

[Kal-El]

I think you meant the iM.

Which brings up another point. These new model names stink.

Everyone is going to confuse iA, iM,...And they just don't sound good when spoken.

xB & xD worked better.

[Kalispel]

http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/750x422/quality/95/http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/340/701/0/S3407010/slug/l/2016-scion-im-07-1.jpg
http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-shared/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/750x422/quality/95/http://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/340/700/8/S3407008/slug/l/2016-scion-im-05-1.jpg

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Better than the iA but still not that compelling. Not crazy about the front end.

My favorite Scion ever is still the xD. These new ones don't even look like Scions.

Toyota just fails at front-end design now it seems. What's up with the ginormous fog-light housing caverns on the iM? It's almost as bad as those on the latest Honda Civic Coup and ILX. Ughhh. I guess that I am just out of step with new car designs. :frown:

The rest of the iM looks good though - at least to me.

[Killchain]

I'd take a iM, but I'm going miss the iQ. I just love that car.

[Kal-El]

What would have made perfect sense is if Toyota had brought the Vios (Yaris sedan) over as a Scion sedan instead rebadging a Mazda. Why does a company that makes more models across every segment worldwide than anyone source out a small brand for a car. Cost savings apparently but it's shamefully done and everyone knows it.

The Vios is even more characteristic of a Scion than Mazda's totally different design language. People would pay more to have the Vios here.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UIW2H5vZako/UyeSfBe01PI/AAAAAAAAQZ8/zCXCmn3NVPg/s1600/2014_toyota_vios_trd_sportivo_01.jpg

[Flammable]

I'd take a iM, but I'm going miss the iQ. I just love that car.Has Toyota shelved the idea of putting the Mazda powertrain into the Yaris?

[Kalispel]

What would have made perfect sense is if Toyota had brought the Vios (Yaris sedan) over as a Scion sedan instead rebadging a Mazda. Why does a company that makes more models across every segment worldwide than anyone source out a small brand for a car. Cost savings apparently but it's shamefully done and everyone knows it.

The Vios is even more characteristic of a Scion than Mazda's totally different design language. People would pay more to have the Vios here.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UIW2H5vZako/UyeSfBe01PI/AAAAAAAAQZ8/zCXCmn3NVPg/s1600/2014_toyota_vios_trd_sportivo_01.jpg

I certainly like the design of the Vios/Yaris better than the new iA, minus the over-the-top rear wing spoiler on that Vios, lol (give me a more-conservative trunk lip-spoiler any day).

Automakers baffle and frustrate me when it comes to international/global markets and how they treat one versus the other when it comes to various models/trims. The USA always seems to get the short end of the stick by a huge margin - especially from Japanese companies.

[Superfly]

I still can't get over Toyota selling a Mazda with barely any changes except for the front end. Even the tail lights are the same. The interior is all Mazda 2. The wheels even look the same. They really didn't want to spend much at all.

Shocks me too. Seems like Toyota is just looking to minimize costs on a car they doubt will sell in large numbers. What really baffles me is that the upcoming Yaris is also supposed to share Mazda 2 underpinnings, so does that mean that dealerships will have the iA and the Yaris as the exact same car except on is a hatch and the other a sedan? Are they going to look exactly the same except for the front fascia? :iono: That is product overlap to the nth degree and foolish. Lazy. Just lazy.

I think the Scion brand should just be deleted.

It needs to. So many members have posted suggestions about what Toyota could do to the Scion brand from funky Soul-fighters to hot hatches and yet we get a watered down Auris rebadge and a Mazda 2 clone. We aren't even getting the more powerful engines that Scion usually had in their cars. It is a freaking disaster.

To be honest, Toyota is starting to lose me. I am not seeing anything coming out that really sparks my interest. The BMW co-op is going to be stupid expensive and completely irrelevant to me, not to mention it will probably mostly be a BMW product. The new Tacoma is ok but will undoubtedly be priced in the low to mid-30s for anything beyond a RWD extended cab. The Prius redesign seems to be going nowhere and that might be a good thing seeing as how Toyota's designers seem to be modeling everything off catfish and carp. I don't get it, I thought Toyota was supposed to be headed back to its roots but it seems like we are just getting more half-assed redesigns and co-operative products than anything else.

[Jcp123]

IM isn't that bad, wish Toyota (and everyone else, for that matter) would just grow a pair and get hatches and wagons back here. Looks like Toyota wants to hide behind the rotting corpse of Scion to creep back into that market. I'll replace my wifey's Kia with a minivan first, and in about a year to two years I'll be replacing the Echo...I have candidates but a good wagon would come to the fore as my choice...if it can be bought with a manual.