Scion welcomes the iA subcompact sedan and the iM five-door hatchback to the product line-up. Produced by Toyota, the Scion brand’s current offerings are the FR-S sport coupe, the tC compact coupe, and the xB compact utility box. “We always took the approach that we’re going to put something on the market for a little while and see if it swims,” Doug Murtha, Group Vice President of Scion, said in an interview with KJB Syndicate during a recent media ride/drive program for the iA and iM in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The xB sunsets this year. “We’re not coming back for the foreseeable future with another box,” Murtha said. That leaves the FR-S (co- developed by Toyota and Subaru) and the tC as the stable mates of the new iM and iA vehicles, which go on sale September 1, 2015.

Scion’s first-time sedan offering, the iA, is a Mazda-produced vehicle that has been fundamentally re-badged as a Toyota in some markets and as a Scion in the U.S., according to Murtha, who notes that the iA’s front clip differs from the Mazda2. Scion’s iM and tC share Toyota Corolla underpinnings. (Corolla has a torsion beam rear suspension, while the iM and tC have a double wishbone rear suspension.) Partnerships have been beneficial for Scion. “We’re a Petri dish, a laboratory for experimentation. But at the same time we need to stop short of becoming Geo, where every single product in that lineup was sourced from another manufacturer and there was really no Chevy DNA left or (General Motors) DNA in those products,” said Murtha, adding, “We feel like we’ve struck a good balance.” Both the iA and the iM have a sub- $20,000 MSRP.