---

TOYOTA DISCONTINUES SCION AFTER SLUMPING SALES



NEW YORK -- Toyota is discontinuing its Scion brand, aimed at younger car buyers, after years of slumping sales.



Toyota Motor Corp. established Scion as a separate brand in 2003 for sale in U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, but sales plunged following the economic recession in 2008 and never fully recovered. Sales of all models combined peaked at just over 173,000 in 2006. Last year, there were just over 56,000 sold.



Beginning in August the MY17 Scion, the FR-S sports car, iA sedan, the iM 5-door hatchback and the C-HR, which recently debuted at the L.A. Auto Show, will be rolled into the standard Toyota line-up. The tC sports coupe will have one more release before production ends that same month.



Scion owners can still visit Toyota service departments for maintenance and repairs.

---